The CdS girls soccer team had an
outstanding holiday break, winning
the Dobson Holiday Tournament, its
second tournament championship so
far this season, by beating Xavier
3-1 in the championship game
avenging the team’s only loss this
season.
The Lady Aztecs not only won the
championship with a 6-0 record, but
did it with astounding ease by
attaining victories over Flagstaff,
Highland, Mt. View, Red Mountain,
Gilbert and Xavier scoring 22 goals
to 4 by the other teams combined.
This season’s CdS team seemed to
have found its identity over the
break and is now poised to repeat
its third run in as many years for
the State 5A-I Championship.
“It will be a tough road, but we are
prepared,” said Coach Matt Smith.
In addition to establishing itself
solidly in the running, the team is
starting to play more consistently,
with several players stepping up
their game during the Dobson
tournament.
“Courtney Mayers had a great
week with 6 goals and 2 assists,”
said Smith.
“Brittany Cole had 3 goals
and 6 assists,” said Smith. “Hailey
Hayes, as goal keeper, had a
good week with 3 shutouts and only
giving up 4 goals. Alexis
Burkhart had a solid week with 2
goals and 3 assists.”
Cole,
Mayers and Burkhart
play soccer positions, such as
striker and midfielders, that give
them opportunities to score goals
but they are not the only positions
that score on CdS’s team. It appears
that defenders can also take shots
at the opponent’s goals.
“The star of the tournament may have
been junior Angela Williamson
who, in addition to playing great
defense, had 3 goals as a center
back,” Smith said.
Corona’s record is currently 19-1-1
but may be 21-1-1 by the time you
read this article. After the break,
CdS won 6 matches outscoring their
opponents 43 goals to 3. The only
teams to get anything past keeper
Hayes was Mountain Pointe
scoring 1 goal on Jan. 9, Desert
Vista 1 goal on Jan. 11, and
Mountain Pointe 1 goal on Jan. 18.
“Mountain
Pointe played a very inspired game
and might have won in regulation on
Friday night, Jan. 18, were it not
for a couple of great saves by
Hayes,” said Smith.
“We scored twice in the first 3
minutes of overtime, once by
Angela Williamson and once by
Lexie Schroeder.”
CdS only has two regular season
matches left before the state
tournament starts.
CdS plays at Desert Vista, Central
Region co-champions with CdS last
year, on Jan. 22. A win against DV
would make them the Central Region
champions for the fifth time in a
row.
If they lose to DV, they must beat
Basha at home on Jan. 24 to once
again be co-champions with Desert
Vista.
The match Jan. 24 will be the last
regular season home match, and CdS
will pay tribute to 10 senior
players and their parents.
Seniors honored, in addition to
Cole, who has over 200 points
and is ranked number one as the
all-time point leader in Corona
girls soccer, passing Patti
Reed Smith, include Mayers
and Burkhart, who have both
passed the 100-point mark, Nicole
Burt, Sammie Lloyd,
Nicole Javey, Este Rea,
Lindsay Dorweiler, Megan
Larson and Krista Hoffer.
If the Lady Aztecs prevail to
three-peat and win the 5A-I state
championship again this year, it
will not only be a story-book ending
for the senior girls, some who have
played in the past two
championships, but a grand going
away present for assistant coach,
Tyler Carpenter, who is retiring
at the end of the year. Carpenter
and Smith were assistant
coaches at Mesa Dobson during the
1990s before Smith took over as head
coach at Corona in 2000.
Carpenter joined Smith as one of
Corona’s assistants in 2002.
Carpenter,
who has helped the Corona girls
soccer team win 120 out of 144
matches during his tenure, will
leave a big hole to fill.
Says Smith, who won the Far
East Region and Arizona State Big
School Coach of the Year, was also a
finalist for National Soccer Coaches
Association of America’s Girls Big
School Coach of the Year:
“I will miss having one of my best
friends there who is quick to notice
and point out when I make a
mistake.”
