CBS 13 Sports: Dialed in
Cibola rides two late goals from Adrian Canez to complete sason sweep over Kofa
YUMA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - As the boys prep soccer season enters its final week in the regular season, local powers Kofa and Cibola are vying for postseason positioning. In the current AIA Class 6A rankings, Cibola entered Tuesday night at #5, Kofa currently sits at #17. A win for Cibola would almost assure the Raiders of opening the playoffs at home. A win for Kofa would propel the Kings into the top 16.
At Raider field it was the regular season finale and senior night for the Raiders. Both teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half. The score remained scoreless midway through the second half.
"Emotions were high due to senior night," Cibola head coach Bryan Claudio said. "We settled ourselves and changed some tactical things during halftime. We started off missing a golden opportunity to finish on an open net but hit it right over the bar."
Cibola finally broke through and scored the game's first goal midway through the second half as Jimmy Quintero found Adrian Canez on the right side of the box.
"Canez went across to the left dragging the goalie," Claudio said. "Then was able to bury on in the back of the net with a great left footed effort, just slipping it past."
Cibola took the 1-0 lead then added a little insurance a short time later by dominating possession and stopping Kofa's overwhelming attack.
"We won a free kick in our attacking half and Jimmy Quintero again found Adrian Canez who buried the effort past the goalie," Claudio said. "That doubled the lead and took the sails out of Kofa."
Cibola hung on to a 2-0 win and swept the season series against Kofa. It was the final game in the regular season for Cibola and they hope it's enough to stay at #5 in order to host a state playoff game on February 12th.
"We played well defensively as a whole unit and created good counter attacking chances for ourselves," Claudio said. "With a good speedy team like Kofa, that is how you have to attack them."
Kofa has one game remaining on their schedule, a home match against South Mountain on Friday. The Kings hope to stay in the state's top 24 rankings in order to earn a play-in playoff game somewhere on February 9th.
