Coyotes fall to Bears in defensive match
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Jazzei Ruiz (5) battles with a Buchanan defender for possession during Monday’s 2-0 loss to the Bears.
The Madera Coyotes girls soccer team presented a solid defensive front, but the Buchanan-Clovis Bears scored in the first minutes and last minutes of the match to record a 2-0 non-conference win in Memorial Stadium.
Buchanan scored in the second minute and the 77th minute for the match win Friday. However, Madera’s pesky defense kept the Bears from more goals.
“For the past couple of days, we’ve been working on our defensive organization,” head coach Cameron Hill said. “After the Clovis North game, I thought we had to go back to basics and hone in on the defensive side of things. I thought we played a lot better defensively. Obviously, we wanted to attack more, but they are a good team. I thought we played well.”
Now that the defensive side of the ball has been a focus, Hill and the Coyotes have to get the offensive side of the ball moving.
“Buchanan took a lot of shots, but none of them were that great,” Hill said. “We did a good job in that sense. Once you’re playing such good defense, it’s hard to get in your mind to attack.”
Madera senior goalkeeper Yesenia Montoya did her part to keep the Coyotes in the match.
“She did well,” Hill said of Montoya. “This is her third year on varsity. She’s had a lot of experience and she’s still growing. She did a good job tonight.”
The Bears got on the scoreboard on their first chance of the night. They got the ball in front of a defender on the right and crossed the ball to the left side behind Montoya. A Bears attacker touched the ball over Montoya and into the back of the net for the goal two minutes into the match.
Midway through the first half, Buchanan got a breakaway on Montoya, but she stopped the shot with a catch.
Madera had its first chance in the 22nd minute when Mariah Zapata got the ball on the right and sent a shot on goal. The ball was deflected wide left and out of bounds by the Buchanan goalkeeper. The ensuing corner kick went out of bounds.
On another Madera corner kick in the 26th minute, a ball was sent across, but too high for a Penelopi Leach header. A minute later, another Madera corner kick was sent across and Jazzei Ruiz got a head on it to the goal, but it was caught for a save.
Buchanan responded with a corner kick in the 30th minute, but Montoya batted the ball over and out of bounds. Buchanan had another chance five minutes later with a free kick from 20 yards out, but shot over the net.
Madera had a chance three minutes into the second half when Mia Perez sent a pass to Leach in the middle. Leach’s 25-yard shot on the right went just wide to the left. On an ensuing corner kick, Zapata sent the ball in front, but it was headed out. However, Zailah Ruiz headed it back in to Leach’s feet. Before Leach could get a shot off, the Buchanan keeper covered the ball up.
On the counter, Buchanan had an open shot inside the box on the right and shot to the left corner. However, Montoya recovered and deflected the ball out. On a Buchanan corner kick seven minutes later, Montoya batted the ball away from trouble.
Buchanan kept the pressure on Montoya. In the 15th minute, the Bears had a long free kick that was batted out by Montoya. The Bears had a chance on the ensuing corner kick, but the shot went ride.
Jazmin Pinon had a run for Madera on the counterattack. She took the ball to the box, but was cut off. She was called for a foul on the defender even though she was he one run into.
Buchanan took the foul kick and went on the rush. A Bears attacker beat a defender and went one-on-one with Montoya. Montoya won the battle with a diving save.
Madera had a chance in the 73rd minute. On a through ball in front, Zapata got the ball by the oncoming Buchanan goalkeeper. Near the end line, Zapata hurried a pass across for Leach. Leach’s hurried shot on goal was stopped by the goalkeeper coming back to the net for the save.
Buchanan added an insurance goal four minutes later when an attacker got by a Madera defender and shot into the upper right corner or a 2-0 win.
