SUNRISE REGION: Beekman saving grace for Green Valley

Hailey Beekman figured to play a key role for Green Valley’s girls soccer team as a senior. Just not as the Gators’ starting goalkeeper.

Beekman, who has signed with Mississippi Valley State to play in the midfield, stopped three penalty shots Tuesday to help the Gators defeat rival Coronado, 3-1 in a penalty-kick shootout at the Sunrise Region final at Bettye Wilson Park.

Green Valley (16-6-1) advanced to play Centennial (17-3-1) in the Class 4A Southern Nevada title match at 4 p.m. Thursday at Bettye Wilson Park. The teams met for the 2008 title, with Centennial earning a 1-0 victory.

“The last time I played keeper, I was 12 years old, and it basically didn’t matter then,” Beekman said. “(This year) was a huge thing to take one for the team. I couldn’t have done it without them or without my coach.”

The senior took over as goalkeeper for the Gators when starter Nicole Westover broke her thumb early in the season. But the success Beekman showed in goal, along with Westover’s strong play at central defense, made the move permanent.

“She’s going to play Division I soccer next year as a midfielder. She sacrificed her senior season for the team,” Green Valley coach Roy Snider said. “You can’t ask for more maturity and a better attitude from the kid. It just shows an incredible amount of maturity and putting the team first. She’s just one of those girls; she’s inspirational in the locker room and on the field.”

Beekman made four saves in regulation, while Coronado keeper Kaitlyn Fahrner made 11 stops to preserve her team’s shutout.

But after two scoreless 15-minute overtime periods, it was Beekman’s time to shine. She made a diving stop on a midlevel ball to her left on Kathleen Cuevas’ kick and then added a save after Danielle Schumacher tested her to the right on Coronado’s second shot.

“All I know is that it’s a 50-50 chance, and in my head, it told me 'go left first,’ and I went left first,” Beekman said. “We’ve only practiced (PKs) twice. I have keeper training on the side, and not once did we go over those. It’s pretty crazy.”

Nicole Esposito converted the third PK for the Cougars, but the Gators converted their first three shots, and Beekman stopped a try by Aubrey Madden to seal it.

Kayla Varner, Cassidy McLean and Cayla Imahara each converted their shot the Gators.

“My focus was to keep it low,” said Imahara, who snuck the deciding penalty shot into the bottom left corner. “I was going to go right, but I switched it at the end because I felt like the goalie knew where I was going.”

McLean nearly ended the match in the second overtime, but her shot in the 108th minute skimmed within inches of the right post.

“As soon as Cassidy shot the ball and missed wide, at that point, I got mentally prepared that we would go into penalty kicks,” Beekman said. “I was just ready for whatever to come, and had to believe in myself.”