Foul, penalty kick beat Tigers

With snow swirling on the field and a wall of Douglas defenders facing her Monday night, sophomore Bekah Gonzalez found a way to convert a last-minute direct free kick to lift Bishop Manogue past Douglas, 1-0, in the Northern Division I Region Tournament girls soccer championship game.

The Sierra League rivals scrapped through a scoreless duel for nearly 80 minutes on a frigid and snowy night at Carson High School before Manogue (19-3-2) secured its first Northern Nevada large schools region tournament title.

Meanwhile, Douglas (15-5-3) saw its bid for a repeat region championship end in heartbreaking fashion. The decisive shot came on a foul call that gave Gonzalez and the Miners a free kick from 20 yards out.

“It was a good game, that was just a tough way to lose,” Douglas coach Werner Christen said. “The game could have gone either game. For it to end that way was unfortunate … we just have to turn the page and move on.”

Both teams advance to the NIAA Division I State Championships, which begin Friday at North Valleys High School in Reno. Douglas plays Sunrise Region champion Coronado at noon and Manogue takes on defending state champion Arbor View at 4 p.m.

“I feel so blessed to be a part of this team and to coach such a great group of girls,” first-year Manogue coach Shelly Avansino said. “We’ve had a great season and we succeeded in bringing it all together at the right time.”

Manogue won all three of its tournament games in dramatic fashion, 1-0 over Reno in double overtime followed by a semifinal win on Saturday over Spanish Springs that was decided by penalty kicks.

It all came down to the end when Douglas freshman goalkeeper Jordan Smith came out of the net and went low in an attempt to gather in the ball, only to collide with a charging Manogue player. Smith was called for a foul, setting up the free kick, which Gonzalez blasted into the upper right hand corner of the net.

“She’s a really solid player,” Avansino said of Gonzalez, who plays center midfield. “There was a whole lot of pressure. I think they had maybe eight girls in the wall right in front of the goal, but she was composed and got it done for us.”

Douglas absorbed a second tough break on the play when Smith was issued a red card in the process.

“I disagree with the call; I don’t think that was a card,” Christen said. “We’ll see if we can appeal it. The thing is, Jordan had a heckuva game. I thought she was the best player on the field.”

Unofficially, Smith was credited with six saves on the night.

The Miners also received a sterling performance from their own freshman goalkeeper, Ashley Ravencroft, who played her first varsity game of the season due to an ankle injury sustained by La-Torae Nixon during the semifinal round shootout on Saturday. In fact, Ravencroft came up with the game-clinching save to end the shootout.

“First varsity game after the shootout and she came up with some amazing saves for us tonight,” Avansino said. “Douglas always has those quality shots from outside and she was able to get her hand on a couple of those when it looked like they were going in.”

Christen felt the game was every bit as close as the final score indicated.

“The game went in stages. I thought it went back and forth as far as both teams dominating,” he said. “We had some great opportunities. Give their backup keeper a lot of credit. She stepped up and played a heckuva game.”

The occasion was just a little bit extra special for Avansino, a 1999 Carson High graduate and former star player for the Senators (as Michelle Gamble). Her assistant coaches, Amber Gwinn and Peter Wallstrum, are both Douglas graduates.

“It’s nice to come down here to my hometown and win a championship,” Avansino said, adding with a laugh. “And having two assistant coaches from Douglas, we all came together, even though we were rivals when we were little.”