I-A BOYS SOCCER: Miners, Cowboys punch tickets to state

Sunrise Mountain boys’ soccer team secured its place in the Division I-A state tournament with a strong defensive performance on Wednesday, blanking Clark 1-0 in the semifinals of the Southern Region tournament at Heritage Park.

Senior striker Jorge Molina provide the only offense the Miners would need when he scored after a corner kick was deflected by the Chargers’ goalkeeper in the 55th minute.

“I just stayed back on the corner kick, and the ball just bounced off the defense,” Molina said. “I was able to control it, took a left hit and it went in. It feels really good to score the winning goal. It sent us to state … there is no better feeling.”

The Chargers (15-2-2) started the game with long attacks against the Miners. The strategy almost paid off early, as Clark had a perfect chance to take a lead at the 10-minute mark, but the open shot hit the top of the crossbar.

Clark had a few other chances to score early, but Sunrise Mountain goalkeeper Carlos Cruz made three saves in the match to maintain the shutout. Ceasar Venegas played the final 10 minutes of the match in goal after Cruz earned a yellow card.

“It was a tough match,” Sunrise Mountain coach Brett Underwood said. “We played them in the first round last year, and they put up a really good fight. In the second half, I told the boys we play soccer for this competition. We don’t play for those 7-0 or 6-0 blowout games.”

The Miners (16-1) eventually were able to shake off some early jitters and started pressuring Clark’s defense. Center midfielders Enrique Pedraza, Hector Munoz and Victor Castaneda started winning the ball and controlling the midfield for the Miners.

“The way they had their defensive format set up, they played with a real deep sweeper,” Underwood said. “So that made it difficult because they stepped hard toward the ball and our guys were covered most of the time.

“I have to take my hat off to my center midfielders. They did a great job winning the ball and distributing the ball. As long as we control the midfield, we were in good shape.”

The Miners will take on Chaparral (19-6-1) at 10 a.m. Saturday at Heritage Park in the Division I-A Southern Region title game. Sunrise Mountain defeated Chaparral 4-1 and 3-0 in the regular season.

For Underwood, playing against the Cowboys, especially with so much on the line, is bittersweet. He graduated from Chaparral in 1992.

“This is the game (Chaparral) coach Eric (Rolwing) and I always want,” Underwood said. “We said this is the way it needs to be. So, we’ll see each other Saturday. This is going to be an awesome game because both teams will come ready to play.

“As long as we play our game and do what we need to do I think we’ll be just fine.”

Chaparral 1, Western 0 – Ivan Jaquez’s goal in the 52nd minute helped the Cowboys eliminate the Warriors from the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Gerardo Skewes made seven saves to earn the shutout for Chaparral.

Oscar Casas-Arias made three saves for Western (17-5-1).