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Bishop Gorman seniors go out with flourish in win over Desert Oasis

Bishop Gorman’s girls soccer players gathered with family and friends near midfield at the end of their Senior Night game on Monday to converse, share fond memories and snap a few pictures.

The collection of smiles, particularly those on the seniors’ faces, told the whole story.

Tavin Hays finished with a hat trick, and Hannah Borgel added two goals and an assist as each player capped their final home goal in style and led the Gaels to a 5-1 win over Desert Oasis in a battle of top Southwest League teams.

“It’s fantastic,” Gorman coach Doug Borgel said. “You want (your seniors) to go out with the win, but to have them be such big contributors, it’s a memory as a dad and coach I’ll never forget. It’s one of the better ones we’ve had.”

With the win, Gorman (19-2-1, 10-1-0 Southwest) leapfrogged Desert Oasis (15-3-1, 9-1-1) for first place with one league game remaining.

“We’re in the driver’s seat now,” Doug Borgel said. “We don’t clinch anything until Wednesday. But our first goal this season was to win the league and we’re right there on the cusp of it. And goal two is to go as far as we can, if not win the championship in the playoffs.”

The win was particularly impressive for the Gaels, who played without standout Arlie Jones — a player Doug Borgel said is a big part of his “three-headed monster.” Jones (29 goals, 10 assists), who has committed to Southern California, has been representing the United States in the Under-18 Women’s International Cup in Northern Ireland, so Hays and Borgel knew going in they’d have to take an increased role in order to avenge a 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks on Sept. 28.

No problem.

Hays scored on an assist from Hannah Borgel in the 17th minute to open the scoring and help the Gaels regroup from a rocky start. Hannah Borgel headed in her first goal two minutes later on an assist from Kevyn Hillegas to put Gorman up 2-0, a score that stood at halftime.

“A couple early goals today helped, for sure,” Doug Borgel said. “It took us a little bit to right the ship at the beginning. They came out playing well, but those two goals settled us in.”

Desert Oasis came out as the aggressor, but couldn’t capitalize on two scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes. The Diamondbacks hit the crossbar on one shot, then failed to convert a one-on-one with Gorman goalkeeper Emilie Hong minutes after to keep it scoreless.

Hays, who has committed to Iowa State, added her second goal in the 56th minute when she took a deflection off Desert Oasis goalkeeper Kelsey LeBoeuf and tapped it in for a 3-0 lead.

Hays completed her hat trick with 12 minutes to play, and Hannah Borgel scored on a 25-yard free kick in the 73rd minute for the final margin.

“ I always feel like you may be able to shut one of them down, or maybe one isn’t there like Arlie hasn’t been, and the other two pick up the pace and play great,” Doug Borgel said.

“I think this is Tavin’s third or fourth hat trick since Arlie’s been gone. She’s been on fire and has been a fantastic addition this season. Her work rate is phenomenal. Her pace is great. She’s a really solid player.”

Gabriella Nevinger scored Desert Oasis’ goal in the 60th minute.

“We had opportunities to score that we didn’t convert on,” said Diamondbacks coach Jared Ogden, who was displeased with the officiating afterwards. “We have to make adjustments, work on our finishing and make sure going into playoffs (that) when we do have those opportunities we take advantage of them and score.”

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