Girls soccer: Crystal Garcia’s PK, strong defense lift Mendota over Dixon

MENDOTA – The Mendota girls soccer team used smothering defense and a well-placed penalty kick off the foot of junior Crystal Garcia to top Dixon 1-0 in the host Trojans’ regular-season finale Wednesday.

“I went up there and told myself to relax, be confident and execute my plan,” Garcia said. “It worked out, and thanks to the amazing play by our defense, it held up and we got a big win.”

Mendota coach Nick Myers was pleased with his team’s defense.

“Our defense really played well tonight,” Myers said. “We didn’t have many [scoring] chances, but we were able to get one in. Crystal had a second chance and it hit the opposite post or we could have been up by two. But I’ll take this win over a quality opponent like Dixon.”

The game began with the teams feeling each other out before Dixon (12-6-1) got the first scoring opportunity when Leah Stees got a look, but Mendota goalie Ariana Sanchez stepped up and took the ball away to thwart the attack.

Mendota got the next chance minutes later as Garcia took a long shot at the 35-minute mark in the first half, but Dixon goalkeeper Zoey Williams made the stop.

The Trojans’ Karen Flores and the Dutchesses’ Avery Burmiester exchanged runouts, but both were turned away with solid defense midway through the first half.

Mendota kept up the pressure as Garcia and Sienna Gonzalez each had a chance from the sides but both were angled out of bounds to preserve the shutout.

Both teams’ back ends were solid in the first half with Kaley Siemer, Litzy Celis, Addy Allensworth and Noemi Arteaga leading the way for Mendota, while Dixon countered with Maddy Mclane, Kamille Prather and Arielle Tefiku.

The teams headed to halftime with no score on the board.

The second half saw Dixon (10-10) ramp up the pressure and spend a lot of time in the Trojans’ half of the field, but Mendota did not break.

Dixon’s Meredith Foulker had a great scoring opportunity, but again Sanchez was up to the task and preserved the shutout.

At the 24-minute mark, Burmeister had a good scoring opportunity, but Sanchez again stood tall and gobbled it up as the clocked moved under 20 minutes with the score 0-0.

With 12:30 remaining, the Trojans’ Kimberly Cedillo lined up a pair of corner kicks, which Dixon turned away.

But the action ended up in a penalty kick out front for Garcia, and she buried it in the bottom left corner of the goal to break the scoreless tie with 10 minutes left.

A few minutes later, Garcia was awarded a second penalty kick from nearly the same spot. This time she went the other way and found iron as the ball caromed off the post, and the game remained 1-0.

Dixon ratcheted up the pressure for the next nine minutes, but the Trojans did not break and walked away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

“I’m happy with our defense,” Dixon coach Josh Brigi said. “This is two nights in a row we have only given up one goal. The problem is we have lost them both. We are not generating enough quality chances, and the ones we are, we are not finishing them.”

The win was big for the Mendota program, as it gave the Trojans their 12th win of the season, which is the most they’ve had since 2011.

“These seniors only had one win as sophomores, and they worked hard and really are great leaders for the program,” Myers said. “They are a confident group, and we are looking forward to regionals.”

Garcia said she hopes this season is a foundation for the future.

“It means a lot to have this kind of success,” Garcia said. “Hopefully, it inspires more girls to go out and further the program. We hope to be the start of a winning culture.”