Coachella Valley High School nearly squandered a three-goal lead Wednesday before holding on to win and advance to the CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinals.
Playing with a 3-0 deficit, Grand Terrace scored two goals three minutes apart late in the second half, stunning the Arabs and quieting the home crowd of more than 300 in Thermal. But sophomore striker Jaylynn Hernandez, Coachella Valley’s leading scorer this season, scored on a penalty kick with 6:30 remaining to put the Arabs back up by two goals. That was important because Grand Terrace scored one more time, before Coachella Valley escaped with a 4-3 win.
Hernandez scored twice in the win, to give her 25 goals for the season, and Nathali Coronel and Daniela Pineda each added goals of their own.
Coachella Valley will now face Artesia in Lakewood on Saturday. With a win, they could host a CIF title game on Feb. 27 or 28. A coin flip will determine who will host the championship game.
“We went to the semifinals last year and lost to the eventual champion,” Arabs head coach Francisco Morales said. “We’ve been knocking on that doorstep for a while. We’ve been to three semifinals, so this will be our fourth.”
There were some tense moments on Wednesday that left that fourth trip in some doubt. Hernandez scored just 40 seconds into the game to give the Arabs a 1-0 lead and Coronel scored on a penalty kick late in the first half to extend the lead.
Coronel, a defensive midfielder, has not scored all season, after scoring nine goals a year ago. She told her teammates that if she scored in this game, the celebration would be big. Her teammates stormed the field to celebrate with her after her kick found the back of the net.
“She was quick to step up and take that penalty kick,” Morales said with a grin. “She wanted that goal.”
The Arabs took the two-goal lead into the intermission. Then, just 29 seconds into the second half, Pineda scored on a 1-on-1 with Grand Terrace goalkeeper Gabriela Jacome to give Coachella Valley a 3-0 lead.
But instead of playing back and coasting, Coachella Valley continued attacking. That left the defense vulnerable and Grand Terrace took advantage with the long ball.
The Titans scored with 13 minutes remaining, then scored again less than three minutes later. They added a third goal with 4:28 to play, but couldn’t replicate the magic a fourth time before time expired.
Jacome kept Grand Terrace in the game with her play in the net. The Arabs, to their credit, generated 19 scoring opportunities and nine shots on goal. But Jacome saved seven of those shots and prevented several of Coachella Valley’s chances from becoming shots.
Should Coachella Valley generate a similar number of opportunities on Saturday, the Arabs should have a strong chance to win.
“We just have to focus on and win the next one,” Morales said. “We won with defense in the second round and then our offense kind of woke up tonight and gave our defense some breathing room. It’s been a complete team effort so far in the playoffs.”
Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley holds off late rally to advance to CIF-SS semifinals
Reporting by Andrew John, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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