Johnson High School’s Camila Palacios had the ball at her feet, about 25 yards away from goal, and less than a minute remaining to play. A hard-fought win against a rival was all but assured.

The logical thing at the moment probably would have been to bleed out the little time that was left on the clock during Johnson’s District 28-6A girls soccer showdown vs. Reagan on Friday night at Comalander Stadium.

Palacios, though, is one of the area’s top scoring threats because she seemingly is always in attack mode.

“I think my immediate thought is, ‘Can I go to goal?’ Palacios said. “And if I can, then I’m just going to go and take the shot. We have 30 seconds left. I have nothing to lose.”

A sophomore, Palacios weaved around four Reagan players after receiving a pass from teammate Ashlyn Di Gioia and put a shot into the upper left corner with 23 seconds left.

The goal was the exclamation point on a night in which the Jaguars sandwiched spectacular goals to open and end the contest around a stingy defensive performance, blanking Reagan 2-0 and moving into first place in district.

Johnson (13-4-2 overall, 11-1-1 in 28-6A) is one point ahead of Reagan (13-5-1, 11-2) in league play with three games left. The teams split their district matchups, with Reagan prevailing 2-1 on Jan. 30.

“In order to get first place in district, we have to win this game,” Palacios said.

The Jaguars didn’t need long on Friday during the 14th annual Ian Cup to move closer to making that prospect a reality. The Ian Cup honors Ian Fincke, who played soccer and attended both Reagan and Johnson. Fincke died at age 16 in October 2008 from a traumatic brain injury sustained during a skateboarding accident.

Less than three minutes into the contest, a wide-open Mabry Williams gathered a pass from teammate Chelsea Colleoni, took a few touches, going right then left, to elude a defender. Williams, a junior forward who is committed to Oklahoma State, then launched a left-footed shot that sailed just under the crossbar and over the reach of Reagan goalkeeper Emily Tredemeyer for the game-winner.

Reagan senior midfielder Brooke Castillo nearly tied the contest only 23 seconds after Williams’ goal, but her attempt hit off the right post. The Rattlers, who had a nine-match winning streak snapped, produced numerous forays into Johnson’s territory with forward Jenna Salazar and midfielders Emilee Durante and Mia Olague, but couldn’t crack the Jaguars’ backline of Riley Surratt, Molly Holland, Krista Perez and Kelly Franks. Goalkeeper Jenna Russell was credited with nine saves.

“We actually talk about it before the game, ‘Stay really positive with each other, encourage, don’t break, don’t yell,’ “Holland said. “I feel like after we scored, it brought us up and made us play even harder than we were.”

Boys
Reagan 4, Johnson 1
On Jan. 25, the Rattlers gathered in a classroom on campus for a film session geared toward helping pick up the pieces of their early season. A day earlier, Reagan had been rocked by LEE 3-0 in the first half of District 28-6A competition.

“We looked at the film and watched what we could’ve done better,” Reagan senior midfielder Jack Hilliard said. “We went back to practice, went back to square one. We just kept our grind going, and we didn’t stop at all.”

The film session has proven to be quite the learning curve. The Rattlers are unbeaten since, including Friday’s 4-1 triumph vs. Johnson in a key league matchup.

Hilliard scored three goals to spark the win, which improved Reagan to 9-0-2 since the lopsided loss to LEE.

A Region IV-6A finalist a year ago, the Rattlers (12-4-4, 10-1-2) are in sole possession of second place in 28-6A, only one point behind first-place LEE (17-0-3, 10-0-3) with three matches remaining. Brandeis (14-4-2, 10-3-1) is in third, two points behind LEE and one behind Reagan, and Johnson (11-5-4, 9-2-2) is in fourth place.

“It’s just about getting back to the roots, staying humble,” Hilliard said. “It’s a new team, new grind. You have to work on it.”

Hilliard did his part, scoring twice in 10 minutes in the first half to propel the Rattlers to a 2-0 halftime advantage.

Johnson pulled within 2-1 midway through the second half on a goal by Diego Robles, who was a threat each time he touched the ball. He nearly scored on a spectacular bicycle kick just before halftime, but Reagan goalkeeper Sean Mattivi came up with a save.

Any realistic chance that Johnson, which had a nine-match unbeaten streak snapped, had to mount a comeback was halted when it had to play the final 15 minutes shorthanded because a player was ejected after receiving a second yellow card.

Reagan capitalized on the advantage, scoring twice in four minutes in the latter stages of the contest. Marcelo Tenorio had the tally to make it 3-1 in the 68th minute and Hilliard rounded out the scoring with eight minutes left.

“We work so well together,” Hilliard said after his second career hat trick — he scored three goals during a 5-0 win vs. Smithson Valley on Jan. 3, 2022. “I can’t ask much more from my teammates. They set me up well. It’s just a great day for the team.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1