SUNSET BOYS SOCCER: Countdown complete, Panthers take title

Kevin Hagood’s countdown started with 20 minutes left in the Division I Sunset Region final, and every so often, the longtime Palo Verde boys soccer coach gave his team an update.

“Fourteen minutes.” “Six minutes.” “Two minutes.”

Hagood knew exactly how much time remained until the Panthers made history.

Matt Thomas and Powell Naylor each had a goal, and Palo Verde beat Cimarron-Memorial 2-1 on Saturday at Heritage Park to capture the program’s first region title.

The Panthers (19-0-1) move on to the state tournament for the first time and will take on the No. 1 seed from the North on Friday at Carson City.

“This program has been good for a long, long time, and we’ve had some good players who were snakebitten,” Hagood said. “We finally got the opportunity, and we were able to capitalize on it.”

Palo Verde had never gotten past the second round of the playoffs until advancing over Bishop Gorman on penalty kicks in the semifinals Thursday, and Hagood joked that he didn’t know what to do when he arrived at the school before the game.

“I’ve never been on the Saturday bus,” Hagood said. “It was kind of a surreal feeling.”

But the Panthers didn’t show any big-game jitters, grabbing the lead in the 10th minute. Matt Thomas was hacked down by a Cimarron defender in the box after being sent in by Nolan Sherwood, and Thomas converted the resulting penalty kick.

“We have been behind in the first two games of the tournament and we talked about how important it was to get the lead early and get the momentum,” Hagood said. “We didn’t want to chase the game at all.”

Palo Verde used its size advantage to dominate the midfield and cut off the Spartans’ counterattack. But the Spartans (13-4-4) nearly equalized just before halftime as Gustavo Ortega lashed a shot from the right wing that sailed inches over the crossbar.

“Mentally, we didn’t recover after the (penalty kick),” Cimarron coach Mark Bailey said. “But we played really well at the end of the first half, and if Gus’ shot goes in, it’s a different ballgame.”

The Panthers started strong in the second half as Naylor had a chance cleared off the goal line in the 44th minute by Spartans defender Angel Esparza, and Sergio Pena kept out Eli Ruffer’s shot in the 58th minute.

Naylor then made it 2-0 in the 61st minute as he slid to get a foot on Austin Polster’s cross and sent it into the top of the net.

The goal proved to be the difference as Cimarron’s Nico De La Torre scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out seconds before the final whistle.

“For this program, the kids, the alumni, this is the biggest moment,” Hagood said. “This goes back years and years of frustration. So that makes it a little sweeter.”