Canyon Girls Get a Victory They Needed

The Canyon girls’ soccer team needed a victory Tuesday to stay in the hunt for the Century League title. And the Comanches got what they needed with a 2-1 victory over visiting El Modena.

After being upset last week by Foothill, 2-1, Canyon dropped out of the county’s top 10 and into second place in league. With Tuesday’s victory over El Modena (7-8-1, 3-1), the Comanches (12-6, 3-1), ranked seventh in Division II, moved into a three-way tie for first place with the Vanguards and Foothill.

“It was a great win for us,” first-year Canyon Coach Alex Camargo said. “We were pretty down after the loss to Foothill. This will turn things around for us.”

Defender Rebekah Anderson put the game away for Canyon with 10 minutes remaining. Off a throw-in by Lopez, forward Rachelle Locke flicked the ball to Anderson directly in front of the goal and Anderson drilled it by goalkeeper A.J. Reeder.

After a scoreless first half, during which Canyon missed four easy opportunities, El Modena, ranked seventh in Division III, opened the second half and missed two of its own.

But Canyon forward Stacie Lopez, who took eight shots in the game--six in the first half--finally got the ball in the goal. Dribbling from midfield, Lopez took the ball down the sideline, juked around freshman Sara Jane McIntyre and lofted a shot that bounced into the far corner of the net, giving Canyon a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes left to play.

El Modena wasted no time tying the score one minute later, when sophomore Ashley Clift easily converted a penalty kick, slamming it into the far corner of the net.