Coronado boys soccer ends perfect season with 3rd straight title — PHOTOS

SPARKS — Coronado’s boys soccer team would not be denied.

The Cougars, after a season full of one-sided wins, found themselves facing some adversity Saturday afternoon at Hug High. But despite trailing early in a state final on their opponent’s home field, they persevered. Coronado came from behind to steal a 2-1 victory over Northern champion Hug and win the Class 5A state title.

“This is the last game together for a lot of these kids. They weren’t going to lose this game. It was not going to happen,” Coronado coach Dustin Barton said. “They’ve left their legacy. They’ve won all their games, set all the records.”

Saturday’s triumph was the 55th in a row for the Cougars (25-0), who won their third straight state title and fourth overall. Coronado’s winning streak is a state record.

The Cougars’ game-winning goal came in the 72nd minute after Hug (21-2) committed a foul. Forward Dylan Flores sent a cross from above the box from the left to the right side of the field. Teammate Josh Pineda got his head on the ball and sent it into the net.

“We had been building out and then we got the foul call,” Cougars senior midfielder Cy Adams said. “It’s a situation we’ve scored a lot on this season. Josh has been looking for headers all year. I saw we sent it over to him and I knew it was going in.”

Coronado, after trailing for a good chunk of the match, tied the game in the 63rd minute. The Cougars sent a through ball up the middle to near the top of Hug’s defensive box. Senior forward Gavin Flickinger then tapped a pass to Gavin Biddinger, who fired a shot into the Hawks’ net.

Coronado showed toughness even though it has not been in a close game this fall. The Cougars’ smallest margin of victory before Saturday came in a 3-0 win over Eldorado in early September.

Hug took the lead 24 minutes into Saturday’s match off a goal from junior midfielder Jordan Talavera.

“We’ve been talking about adversity all season. We knew we were going to have to face it at some point,” Barton said. “There was going to be a time when we were going to have to show our character. They’ve had three-plus years of preparation for this. We were ready for it.

“We’ve also talked about knocking teams out early, not letting them hang around. Today, that didn’t happen.”