The question Saturday was whether the Coronado boys soccer team could make it through regional play without a loss.
The answer was apparent within 20 minutes, when Dylan Flores scored from 20 yards out to ignite a flurry of first-half goals as the defending state champion Cougars rolled to an 8-1 home victory over Palo Verde in the Class 5A Southern Region boys championship game.
Both teams will travel to Reno next week for the state tourney at Hug High School. Coronado (23-0), the South’s top seed, will play No. 2 North representative Sparks on Friday in the semifinals, and Palo Verde, No. 2 in the South, will face Hug, No. 1 in the North, on Friday. The title game will be played at noon Saturday.
“We expected a tough game,” said Coronado coach Dustin Barton, whose squad extended its own state record to 179 goals on the season. “Palo Verde always plays us tough, but once we get going, we’re hard to stop.”
The dominant performance came with several other state records.
Coronado is now on a 53-game winning streak. That sets a state record for most consecutive games without a defeat. Bishop Gorman set the previous record with a 47-0-5 stretch from 2008 to 2010.
“That’s just a side note,” Barton said. “Records happen when a team is playing well. We’re proud of them, but it’s not what we were looking for.”
Flores scored another goal before the first half was over, sparking four Cougars’ goals over an eight-minute span and putting them ahead 4-0 at halftime. The goals lifted the senior to 101 career goals, and his four assists in the game gave him 102 to add to his own state record.
“It means a lot to me,” Flores said. “It means I can move positions but still score a lot of goals while also getting three or four assists.”
He added that he suspected his early success Saturday would inspire his team to take over the game.
“Every game, it always seems to take a little while for us to get going,” Flores said. “But once we open it up, we’re unstoppable.”
Senior Gavin Flickinger got in on the record-setting action, scoring four goals to give him a state-record 64 goals on the season. His goal with two minutes remaining Saturday tied him for the most career goals with 124. With another score in the state tourney, he will set the 5A/4A career goals mark of 125.
“It wouldn’t be possible without my teammates feeding me the ball,” Flickinger said. “But, I really just want to win another state championship. We want to stay hungry and not get complacent.”
Once Coronado seized momentum, the Panthers (13-4-3) could not get it back. Even though the Cougars added four more goals in the second half, it could have been uglier as they blew multiple scoring opportunities during a 40-minute barrage of shots on goal.
Palo Verde’s Evan Odle scored with 17 minutes remaining, but Flickinger answered with two in the final nine minutes to erase any doubt.
Class 3A Southern League boys
* Virgin Valley 2, Moapa Valley 1: At Virgin Valley, Gauge Draney and Luis Quijada scored first-half goals for the Bulldogs to edge the Pirates for the championship.
The South’s top seed Virgin Valley will play Truckee in the state semifinals Friday at Cristo Rey, with the title game to be held Saturday. Moapa Valley, No. 2 in the South, will play North No. 1 South Tahoe in the other semifinal.
Class 3A Southern League girls
* Virgin Valley 0, Equipo 0: At Virgin Valley, a scoreless tie was broken when the Bulldogs edged the Yeti 5-3 in a penalty-kick shootout to claim the championship.
The No. 1 South Bulldogs will face North No. 2 North Tahoe in the state semifinals at Cristo Rey on Friday, with the title game to be held Saturday. No. 2 South Equipo Academy will play North No. 1 South Tahoe in the state semis on Friday.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
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