Palo Verde ends Arbor View’s shutout streak, beats Aggies

Palo Verde’s girls soccer team entered its match Friday having outscored opponents 31-3 this season, while Arbor View held a 28-0 scoring edge.

Neither side expected a high-scoring affair when Friday’s match pit the top two teams in the Northwest League against each other.
But that’s exactly what they got.

After both teams ended a wild first half with three goals apiece, the Panthers stunned the host Aggies 4-3 on Lauren Kaskie’s 69th-minute goal that glanced off her left foot and into the corner pocket in front of Aggies goalkeeper Alex Luevano-Hardin.

“I needed to get that in,” Kaskie said. “It was like bacon served to me; I was so ready to kick that in as hard as I can.”

Kaskie started the scoring spurt, too, slipping the ball into the back of the net in the 10th minute for the early lead.

“She’s a natural player, but she’s still got that young mentality,” Panthers coach Frank Messina said of Kaskie, a freshman. “She’s not to where she’s less concerned with the little details than what’s going on on the field.”

Kori Jeffries and Sila Tuiofea added goals for the Panthers (8-0-2, 6-0-1 Northwest), which got assists from Tatiana Pagan, Kainoa Becker and Alyssa Kleiner.

“I did not suspect six goals to be scored in the first half, especially with these two teams,” Panthers coach Frank Messina said. “I think we’re a top contender, and I think Arbor View’s there too, and I did not expect six goals.

“I thought maybe 1-0 (for) either team, 2-0 max going into the half, but not 3-3 on both sides.”

Arbor View’s Falon Miller notched two goals, including an unassisted last-minute equalilzer two minutes before halftime. Lauren Shadel also scored for the Aggies, and Dakota Olson had two assists.

The Aggies (7-1-1, 6-1) outshot the Panthers 12-7 in the first half, but all seven Palo Verde shots were on target, compared to five for Arbor View.

Messina called the second half “a 40-minute match,” and the perspective shift worked for the Panthers, who added six shots on goal in the second half to the Aggies’ three.

“We want to be undefeated, and we did it (so far),” Kaskie said. “We knew we just had to work hard, get back on defense, and not let any balls get in. We needed to score, so we put our attack in, pushed them up ... This was the biggest win yet. This is really big; we’re still undefeated.

“We need to just keep it together and not let anything happen now.”

Messina hopes the win can set a precedent for the second half of league play.

“I think this is definitely setting the pace for the second half of the season,” he said. “This will probably be a little bit of fire under my girls, to get them going.

“They know, and I’ve told them all year, that this is one of our years.