Gila Ridge girl’s soccer season comes to an end in first round of 6A playoffs

The Hawks were done in by a controversial red card handed out in the second half, as Gila Ridge's otherwise dream season concludes

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Following a regular season that saw Gila Ridge girl's soccer finish with their best record in program history (11-3) and their first ever Open division appearance, the Hawks season closed with a 4-0 loss to Corona Del Sol (7-5).

After being down 1-0 at the end of the first half, a red card called on senior Laci Haxton left the Hawks with 10 players the rest of the game.

Haxton was trying to defend Aztecs senior Chloe Derouin as she had a clear path to score, Derouin's left leg then collided with Haxton causing her to fall.

While the referee's decision to pull a red card is up for debate, head coach Cooper Cox knows the moment was pivotal for his team.

"It was definitely a foul, I'm not one to bash the refs or be picky about that, but that was definitely a turning point in the game," Cox said.

Regardless, the deficit proved to be too much for Gila Ridge, as the 11 seed Aztecs would score three more times in the second half to seal the Hawks' fate.

"For a game to ultimately be decided in that sense and put a team at that big of a disadvantage in such a close competitive game is a tough one to reflect back on," Cox said.

While the red card didn't help, Gila Ridge also struggled to create scoring opportunities and missed out on the few they did have.

"We didn't execute, we didn't bury our chances, and we didn't play good enough," Cox said.

While the Hawks impressive year comes to a close, Cox knows it will be a challenge to keep the momentum going into next year.

"We're losing a lot of talent, especially on the offensive side of things, so we're gonna need people to step up," Cox said.