Boys Soccer Roundup

Bulldogs win pair at Ridge
by Jason Stone

NORTH VALLEY – One goal is all that separated Goldwater from advancing into the bracket portion of last week's Ridge Cup boys soccer tournament at Mountain Ridge High School.

Goldwater (4‑5‑0) dropped a round‑robin match Dec. 6 to the host Mountain Lions 2‑1, and that proved to be the deciding result in the Striker Bracket of the tournament.

Featuring 16 teams across Arizona, Goldwater finished 2‑1 at the event, which included local teams Boulder Creek and O'Connor.

The Bulldogs started out with a 5‑2 rout of Peoria and ended up with a narrow 3‑2 victory over Notre Dame.

Boulder Creek and O'Connor didn't have the same luck, however. The Jaguars were only able to manage a tie against two losses in the event, while O'Connor lost all three of its pool play games. The Jaguars managed a 1‑1 tie against Sunrise Mountain in the final game after losses to Saguaro and Millennium.

Still, Boulder Creek's 2‑2‑1 record heading into the final week of non‑region games is an improvement over last year, in which the Jags did not win a game in 18 tries during their first year as a varsity program.

O'Connor fell to 0‑5‑0 on the year with tournament losses to Westview, Centennial and Casa Grande.

Goldwater and O'Connor will face off in the first Northwest Region game of the year Dec. 18 at Goldwater.

Long layoff helps Falcons integrate

CAVE CREEK – A long layoff after the season's first game allowed Cactus Shadows to integrate some late‑arriving football players last week.

The Falcons, who did not play for nearly two weeks after the Nov. 28 season opener, got back into the swing of things Dec. 11 when the Falcons traveled to Avondale to take on Agua Fria in a non‑region match.

Cactus Shadows, the defending co‑state champions in 4A‑II, decided to skip in‑season tournaments, which proved to work out since the Falcons were short‑handed while the school's football team was on its state‑championship run.

After three games this week–the Falcons (1‑0) also host Pinnacle (Dec. 12) and Independence (Dec. 14)–and a game at Pinnacle next week to open Wells Fargo Region play, the team will be off on winter break.

Reach the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.