Madera suffers overtime loss to Sanger Apaches
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Adela Alvarez sends a cross to the middle of the field during Wednesday’s overtime loss to Sanger. She scored Madera’s lone goal in the match.
The Madera Coyotes girls soccer team gave up an early lead and lost 2-1 in overtime against the Sanger Apaches in Memorial Stadium.
“It wasn’t our best day, overall,” Madera head coach Cameron Hill said. “We didn’t play as well as we have been playing. It was a battle, but we just didn’t play as well for sure.”
Sanger had the first shot on target when Freankie Lee took a shot which was saved by the fingertips of goalkeeper Yesenia Montoya.
The Coyotes took the lead in the 20th minute when Adela Alvarez took a pass from Penelopi Leach on the right wing and dodged a couple of defenders in the box to fire a shot into the net.
Sanger immediately threatened after the goal. However, Jasmine Guardado’s shot in front of goal went just wide after it was blocked by a defender. Montoya then came up with the save on the ensuing corner kick.
With both teams unable to get opportunities for the rest of the first half, the Coyotes took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Sanger only took three minutes to find the equalizer in the second half on a goal by Diana Garcia.
The Apaches also earned multiple free kicks early in the second half, but they were unable to take advantage.
Hill said his team didn’t sustain the strong defensive effort they showed in the first half.
“Sanger was dangerous in the first, but we did well defending. Then we didn’t defend it as well,” Hill said.
The Coyotes earned corner kicks in the 65th and 67th minute, but still couldn’t find the target in the second half.
Montoya came up with a couple of saves in the 73rd minute to keep the Apaches out.
Alvarez had a chance to score the winner in the final seconds, but she was unable to fire a shot before the goalkeeper came out of the goal to prevent the kick.
Sanger found the winner in the third minute of overtime when Garcia scored her second goal.
The Coyotes, who were coming off a 2-1 win against San Joaquin Memorial, dropped to 2-3 in league. Hill said the schedule can take a toll, particularly with overtime games adding up, but the team will move on without making excuses.
“It starts to add up, but at the same time everybody else is dealing with it, so that’s just what we have to do,” Hill said.
