SUNRISE GIRLS SOCCER: Kornieck, Young lead Cougars to third straight title

Coronado seniors Taylor Kornieck and Carli Young have shared several memories on the soccer field the past three varsity seasons.

The team captains added another special moment Saturday afternoon.

Kornieck and Young accounted for all of the Cougars' goals in a 4-1 win over Silverado in the Sunrise Region final at Bettye Wilson Park.

Coronado (18-1-2), which won its third consecutive region title, advances to next week's state tournament in Reno.

"It feels really awesome, especially because it's our senior year," said Young, who finished with a goal and two assists. "And I just feel like we're going to win state this year."

Kornieck, a University of Colorado commit, posted a hat trick for the Cougars despite seeing double and triple teams all match.

She got the Cougars on the scoreboard in the sixth minute off an assist by Katelyn Moxley.

Moxley sent a 20-yard pass down the right sideline to a speeding Kornieck, who slithered through two defenders before sending a shot to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

But Silverado answered in the 17th minute, when Victoria Bravo picked up a deflected free kick and scored. Coronado goalkeeper Rachel Morris jumped to save Melina Amador's 25-yard free kick from the left side of the field, but couldn't control the ball, which went to Bravo.

Silverado, which lost to Coronado 7-0 on Sept. 16, had a lot more fight on both ends in the first half Saturday. The Skyhawks (11-4-3) evenly split possession, were aggressive on defense and fired six shots.

So even after Young assisted Kornieck in the 33rd minute to give Coronado a 2-1 halftime lead, the Cougars didn't really like where they stood.

"The way that we were playing did not feel how it normally does," Young said. "But at halftime we were like, 'We just need to come out and play how we can play.' And it happened. We came out and controlled the second half."

Said Kornieck: "We underestimated them. We beat them 7-0 (earlier in the season), so we had that and Reno in our head."

In the 50th minute, Young found Kornieck, and her left-footed shot gave the Cougars a commanding 3-1 lead.

"Coach (Dana Neel) pushed me out wide and it helped me a lot because I had more space," Kornieck said. "And they switched to a stopper-sweeper (defense) and it wasn't really that effective. So pushing me out wide created more chances."

After Kornieck took a seat with 20 minutes to go, a pesky Young was itching to get on the scoreboard. The 5-foot-2-inch, 95-pound Young received a pass from Destiny Simpson and lasered the ball to the bottom left corner, just out of the reach of Silverado goalkeeper Mikaila Becze, for a 4-1 lead.