Season closes with 5-1 loss to Scots

Mike Hackworth

(Updated: Thursday, February 25, 2010, 1:25 PM)

The No. 6 seeded Yosemite High School Lady Badgers girls soccer team rolled past its first obstacle in the Central Section Division III playoffs defeating the No. 11 seeded Dinuba Emperors 5-1 in first round last Wednesday in Badger Stadium.

Yosemite (16-6-2, 7-3-0 NSL) sent its offense, with sophomore Riley Cooks leading the way, on the attack with the opening kick and overwhelmed the Dinuba (1-11-2, 1-4-1 CSL) defense.

The Lady Badgers scored 10 minutes in, when Jori Johnson took the ball down the right sideline into the corner, passed the ball into the center to Lacey Smith who passed to Cooks in the box; Cooks moved passed a defender and crossed the ball to the back post where Mary Gomez drove the ball into the net and a 1-0 Yosemite lead.

The Lady Badgers created several scoring opportunities in the first half but could not cash them in.

With three minutes gone in the second half, the Dinuba attacker ran past two Yosemite defenders leaving the Badger goaltender unprotected, and the Emperors tied the game at 1-1.

Kelly Mears stole the ball from the Dinuba attacker, moved the ball into the center to Smith who headed the ball to Gomez who crosses the ball back over to Cooks who shot past the Dinuba goaltender giving the Badgers back the lead at 2-1.

Five minutes later Dinuba won a free kick for offsides. The kick was stolen by Cooks, who's shot bounced off the goalkeeper and went to Smith. Smith shot and again the goalkeeper stopped the shot.

Smith won the ball back and passed to Badger striker Cooks who shot into an empty net making it 3-1.

Twelve minutes into the quarter, Gomez played a ball down the line. Cooks turned to cross the ball and put it over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, giving Cooks her third hat trick of the season and the Badgers4-1 lead.

The Badgers finished the scoring at 75 minutes when they won a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Kaila Padovich stepped up and drilled a perfect free kick into the upper corner ending the score at 5-1.

"It was a great team win and everyone played well," Yosemite coach Scott Males said. "We were not perfect in any way but the ladies worked together and got the job done."

Highland 5, Yosemite 1

Yosemite traveled to Bakersfield on Friday to meet the No. 3 seeded Highland Scots (13-9-1, 7-4-1 SEYL) in a quarter final match.

"The Badgers came into the match with high hopes thinking they could steal a match on the road and surprise the seeding committee," Males said. "Finally after a few days of practice and a playoff game under our belts and a healthy starting lineup for the first time in a month we were ready to go."

At 10 minutes, the Lady Badgers allowed a highland player to turn inside and shoot past Yosemite goalkeeper Tiffany Longcor, putting Highland up 1-0.

The Badgers continued to play hard and continued to absorb pressure, but always seemed to loose the ball when it got to the outside.

With 5 minutes left in the first half, a shot by the Scots caught the post and bounced back to a Highland attacker, who tucked the ball away for a 2-0 lead. The Scots scored again just before halftime, giving them a 3-0 lead.

The Lady Badgers came out after the intermission and took it to Highland. With 20 minutes left, Yosemite broke through when Madison Samora scored on a free kick from 18 yards, making the score 3-1 Highland.

With 10 minutes remaining, the Lady Badgers attacked down the left side where Johnson crossed the ball to Cooks and the Yosemite sophomore shot past the goaltender and launched a kick but a highland defender cleared the ball off the line before it hit the box.

The ball was covered by Gomez for Yosemite, but her shot was stopped by the goaltender and then cleared by a defender.

Highland scored another minutes later giving the Scots a 4-1 lead and essentially the game.

"I could not be prouder of how the ladies responded," Males said. "We made mistakes in the first half that cost us the match, but what the score line does not show is how we dominated 65 minutes of the game.

"The ladies gave everything they had and can hold their heads high, knowing they played well enough to win. We just have to learn to eliminate the mental mistakes."

Division III quarter finals

Highland 5, Yosemite 1 @ Highland; halftime: 3-0 YOSEMITE Goal: Samora. Saves: Longcor 5. HIGHLAND (13-9-1) Goals: Rangel, Cooper 2, Espinoza 2. Assists: Espinoza 2, Cooper 2. Shots: 10. Saves: Hernandez 3.