Sweet revenge: Buchanan wins Central Section girls soccer title over TRAC rival
Losing to Clovis North in the Central Section Division I championships in 2021 was still fresh on Buchanan High’s mind.
All Bears coach Jasara Gillette wanted from her players was to put in a solid “effort,” hoping that would be enough to come out on top this time.
They pulled it off in dramatic fashion.
Ciara Wilson scored in the first overtime, booting in the winning goal from 10 yards out to give the top-seeded Bears a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Clovis North in the 2022 title game Saturday, denying the Broncos a three-peat.
It is the Bears’ first section title since the 2018 season, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
“This is something what we’ve been working for since last year when we lost,” Gillette said. “It’s a big moment. I had been reflecting and I just wanted it so bad for the girls. You know the effort the girls put in. You see how bad they wanted it and I’m just so excited.
Wilson knew Clovis North wasn’t going to go away easily, even after the Bears took a 1-0 lead. The Broncos tied the score on Braedlyn Kincade goal off a rebound inside the box in the second half.
But leave it to Wilson, who played 100 minutes to help give the school its 12th section title.
“I was definitely tired but we try to fight through it and we just wanted this really bad,” she said. “It was really important that we came out and showed our heart and how talented we are.”
Jessica Montelongo scored the Bears’ first goal early in the second half.
Buchanan and Clovis North will find out Sunday where they will play in the CIF regional soccer tournament.
Sanger girls win title
Less than 24 hours after the Sanger High boys lost their CIF Central Section Division I championship match to visiting Reedley, 1-0, the top-seeded Apaches made sure they didn’t suffer the same fate.
Diana García scored nine minutes into the second half off an assist from Gianna Mclain to open the scoring against No. 2 San Luis Obispo.
With 5 minutes left in the Division II girls soccer championship match, teammate Karina González drilled another score to secure Sanger’s 2-0 win at Tom Flores Stadium.
Apaches coach Ángel Cabral was almost speechless following the match.
“It feels awesome,” Cabral said. “Our goal in pre-season was to win league and now our biggest goal was to win the section for the first time ever.”
Sanger improved to 24-5-1.
San Luis Obispo is now 13-7-4.
Fresno Christian girls claims title
It came down to penalty kicks between No. 2 Fresno Christian and top-seeded Mammoth.
The Eagles came away with the Division V section title, beating Mammoth 5-4 in PKs..
Fresno Christian has now won three section titles.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 3:46 PM.
