Coyotes okay with draw
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Anyssa Garcia jumps in front of a Clovis West shot attempt during a scoreless tie Wednesday.
About 24 hours after picking a non-league win, the Madera Coyotes girls soccer team began a string of Tri-River Athletic Conference opponents with a scoreless draw against the Clovis West Golden Eagles.
“It’s a good result for us,” head coach Cameron Hill said. “We were kind of lost in numbers. We had another injury tonight. A tie is a tie and we’ll move on from there.”
The Coyotes picked up a non-conference victory Tuesday, defeating Sunnyside-Fresno 2-0 behind two goals from Mia Alvarez.
“The first one, she took it from the midfield and scored,” Hill said. “The second, she went from left to right and went inside far post. It’s been a little rough. We’ve had a lot of injuries to key players. We don’t have that many seniors. Last year, we were senior heavy. This year, we’re junior heavy. Some of our leaders have been in an out. We went to San Luis Obispo and didn’t fare well there.”
However, the Coyotes began a run of TRAC opponents with a scoreless draw with the Golden Eagles on Wednesday.
“We schedule tougher games on purpose,” Hill said. “We have matches with TRAC schools coming up. We want to win those games, but also the girls have to know they can play with some of the best teams around. We just need to get healthy.”
The Coyotes continue their run through the TRAC hosting the Clovis Cougars on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Memorial Stadium, playing at Clovis North on Tuesday and playing at Buchanan on Jan. 3. Although Clovis West controlled the time of possession, the Madera Coyote backline, led by sweeper Anyssa Garcia and goalkeeper Jessica Diaz kept the Golden Eagles out of the net.
“We had a little scouting report that they like to play the flank and go and go,” Hill said. “We switched one of our girls to the opposite side. I was pleased with how the back line played all night. They really didn’t get any great opportunities. That’s all you can be thankful about.”
The Golden Eagles didn’t have a lot of chances in the first half. In the 18th minute, the Golden Eagles received a pair of corner kicks and Diaz batted the first one out and the second was cleared out.
In the second half, Clovis West had a chance twice in the ninth minute, but Diaz caught both shots. Clovis West got a free kick just outside the goalkeeper’s box on the right side in the 17th minute, but the kick went right to Diaz in the middle.
Madera got its first chance in the 33rd minute of the second half. Samantha Valencia sent a pass to Alvarez in the middle. She got by one defender and put a shot on goal. The ball went just outside the right post.
Off the counter, Clovis West got a ball in the middle in front of the goal. Diaz came out hard to get the ball just as two Clovis West attackers were converging. Diaz got enough of the ball to knock it out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick was cleared out.
Madera got the last scoring chance in the 38th minute with a free kick at about 35 yards out. Alvarez sent the kick to the far corner and the ball went just wide to keep the game scoreless.
“I knew we were going to absorb a lot of pressure,” Hill said .”We knew we were going to have to hit them on the counter. We were hoping Mia could put one on frame and go home.”
