The winter boys and girls soccer season opened for many schools Tuesday night and fans of Campo Verde's and Highland's boys and girls teams got to see starkly different games in the doubleheader contested at Campo Verde High.

The girls game offered the most entertainment with three goals scored in the final seven minutes, leaving Campo Verde the victor over Highland, 3-2, to salvage a split of the twinbill. Highland's boys bested Campo Verde in the early game, 1-0.

Soccer doubleheaders are a way of life for Campo Verde as coach Drew Guarneri mentors both the boys and girls squads. Guarneri's teams both reached 5A championship games last year with the girls beating Millennium for the title and the guys finishing runner-up to Sunnyside.  

After the tough boys loss in the first game, all was calm on the Campo sideline with 20 minutes left in the girls game. Campo Verde was in command with a 2-0 lead after Haylee McLeod scored off an assist by Lexi Kreipke in the 59th minute. It was the Coyotes second goal in 11 minutes as Tatum Miller tapped in a serve by Kreipke for the first score.

But as time moved inside of 10 minutes to play, Highland got a break with handball call in the box in the 72nd minute. Highland's Kaleigh Backlund took the penalty kick, but drove it wide right. Campo breathed a sigh of relief.

That lasted exactly one minute as Backlund weaved her way through the defense and scored the hard way to make it 2-1. Two minutes later Highland stunned Campo with a second goal in two minutes, again by Backlund, who secured a tap in off a direct kick that hit the crossbar.

With overtime looming, Campo Verde ended up with a decisive salvo. Rylee Rottweiler knocked home the game winner off a free kick delivered by Paige Morris in the 79th minute.

Guarneri reminded his team immediately after it grabbed a 2-0 lead not to let down. They didn't.

"No, I blame the last few minutes on bad coaching," Guarneri said. "I made some personnel changes I shouldn't have. Fortunately Rylee's goal bailed me out."

Campo's boys were frustrated by the loss because there were so many shots that were close. The Coyotes surrendered the game's only goal in the eighth minute as striker Alex Kessler tallied from about 15 yards out in one of the few scoring chances the Hawks had for the game. Kessler sat out last season after leading the team in scoring two years ago as a sophomore.

Campo Verde had ample chances to score with a number of corners and throw-ins in Highland's end. A couple hit posts or the cross bar and there were a few nice saves by Hawks' keeper Kang Tran.

"It's a nice win for us," Highland coach Tim Barmettler said. "Campo has a great team and is very well coached. We got a goal early and it held up."

Guarneri wasn't displeased with boys' loss.

"The ball just didn't go in the back of the net," Guarneri said. "The effort was there. Their keeper did a good job and the post helped out a couple times. They were able to stick the one good chance they had."