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Soccer teams overcome Broncs |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 |
 Thursday’s soccer game at Kern Valley featured rough-and-tumble play. Here, Bishop’s Jazmin Rossi gets taken out by a Lady Broncs defender. Bishop came through with a 3-2 win. Photo by Julie Garrison By Keith Rainville
Sports Editor 2-5-2008
The Bishop boys and girls soccer teams ground out wins at Kern Valley last Thursday to head into the final week of High Desert League play on a roll. The Broncos clinched the High Desert League title with their 5-0 win. Meanwhile, the Lady Broncos got a scare when Kern took a 2-1 lead midway through the second half, but goals by Whitney Pate and Mikaela Griffiths gave the team the big 3-2 win.
The Broncos were able to clinch the title on the road despite losing several players to the nasty flu that sweeping town. In the first competitive game that the team has played in nearly a month, Jaime Sandoval came through with Bishop’s only goal of the first half. Strong defense, solid goalkeeping and good decision-making kept the KV Broncs off the scoreboard for the 1-0 Bishop lead.
In the second half, Jiovanni Santana turned the screws on KV, using his ball skills to score a pair of goals. Santana gave the team a 2-0 lead with a nice shot in the opening minutes of the second half and then was taken down on a breakaway by the opposing goalkeeper. The Bishop senior converted the penalty kick to give his team some well-earned breathing room.
The final 20 minutes of the game were a real battle, according to head coach John McGurke. “Twenty-five minutes into the second half, Tyler Thomas was red carded which left us playing with 10 boys for the rest of the game,” he said. Despite playing 10 versus 11, “we were able to rally for two more goals with Jio scoring another hat trick and Diego Gonzalez scoring on a beautiful header.”
The Broncos showed that they could win even when they don’t have their A game, and as the team advances to the playoffs that ability to grind out wins will be essential. The team improved to 11-0 in HDL play, and even if Bishop were to lose all three games this week, the Broncos are the 2008 HDL champs. The team plays at Desert on Tuesday, hosts Mammoth on Thursday and needs to squeeze a makeup game with Frazier Mountain in sometime before Saturday. The Broncos want to put the “undefeated champs” exclamation point on the season and secure a top spot in the Division 6 playoff brackets.
The Lady Broncos also kept their HDL hopes alive last Thursday. The girls are hoping to take second place in the league standings behind undefeated state champs Desert Christian. Bishop is competing with Frazier Mountain for the second spot and is trailing the Lady Falcons by one game. Bishop will host Frazier sometime this week depending on the date for the make up game.
At Kern, according the Bishop girls head coach Dave Mappus, “The Lady Broncos didn’t play their best game of the season, but they showed how much fight and heart they have.”
Facing a determined KV squad on senior day, Bishop needed to battle the entire 80 minutes for the win. Kern scored a surprise goal midway through the first half that seemed to wake the Lady Broncos up. Trailing 0-1, senior Whitney Pate won a 50-50 ball, drove towards the net and sent a hard shot in for the equalizer. The score remained tied at the halftime break.
In the second half, Kern once again went on the offensive, winning loose balls and putting solid pressure on the Bishop goal. Fifteen minutes in the half, Kern attacked down the left sideline and crossed a ball into the middle for a goal and a 2-1 lead.
“The Broncs were playing for fourth place in the HDL and did not want to lose,” said Mappus. “Our girls did not give up and we came right back.”
In the 20th minute, Pate once again stepped up for Bishop. She won another loose ball, beat a defender and converted the open look to tie the game at 2. The Lady Broncos knew that a tie would be as bad as a loss for their second-place hopes, so the team turned on the gas in the final 10 minutes.
“This was nothing short of a battle,” said Mappus. “With just four minutes left in the game senior Angela Borin hooked up with Mikaela Griffiths for the go- ahead score.”
Mappus said that Nabil Torres and Janelle Freeman made key contributions off the bench to give the Lady Broncos defense fresh legs down the stretch. “Our defense lead by Ceina Runley really stepped up late in the game and allowed us to get the win.”
With the hard-fought victory, Bishop improved to 8-3 in HDL play. Catch the team in action at 3 p.m. on Thursday against Mammoth with the boys’ game to follow at 5 p.m. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 March 2008 )
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