Elliott Greisen is a Masters student at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Camelback High School for AZpreps365.com

 

PHOENIX— The Camelback girls soccer team pushed through a sluggish first half on Monday to beat Carl Hayden Community for a second time this year by a score of 1-0. 

The Spartans, coming off a 9-0 mercy-rule win over Central last Friday, lacked energy during the first half. That listlessness led to missed opportunities, as Camelback punished itself by being offsides and with poor communication. 

“It was their energy levels” coach Andreina Quiceno said. “There are some days where they don't have that energy and it's hard to bring it out on that Monday night.” 

After a scoreless first half, the Spartans opened the second half playing with much more vitality and poise. Spacing the field well, they passed and moved the ball much better, allowing their forwards room to operate. 

Quiceno credits her captains with helping jump-start the squad's motor at halftime. 

“That's where I really have my captains, Vienna Muñoz and Ariany Mapula, give their team advice," Quiceno said, "and I hope the captain are able to bring that energy out of their teammates.” 

In the 49th minute, junior Ariany Mapula found the back of the net from about 20 yards out, scoring the only goal for Camelback. “I just cut and saw that I had the opportunity to put it over her. “ Mapula said. 

This marked the advent of an onslaught by the Spartans who continued to push the ball down and into the box but were unable to finish on multiple occasions. 

“I wish we would have had more, we definitely had the opportunities,” Quiceno said, “but the positive is that we were able to bring that energy out in the second half and capitalize.” 

Camelback’s second-half effort was in part due to the team's ability to communicate better. Quiceno was also actively encouraging the team to take more ownership of the communication and play on the pitch. 

“I would like the verbal cues to come from the individual teammates,” Quiceno said. “We have nine seniors but do have some young great talent on the team. I would like the young talent to be able to become more leaders on the team.” 

The Falcons had only four shots on goal, with most of those coming in the first half. When they were able to catch the Spartans in a few quick counter-attacks, leaving the defenders scrambling to get back, they were unable to capitalize. 

Late in the second half, Carl Hayden created an anxious moment for Camelback when they were awarded a direct free kick. However, the Falcons were unable to score. They also advanced the ball close to the box a handful of times, but were also unable to knot the score at one-all.

“We were very stiff today,” Falcon coach Spencer Freeman said. “We had some COVID cases last week. so all our practice and games were canceled last week.” 

The Falcons also saw players return to the pitch after a long absence. Having senior midfielder Amber Camacho back after a two-month absence helped to provide a boost in their game. “Our offense definitely did better,” Freeman said. "We were better at getting the ball near their box.” 

Camelback (4-4) is currently number one in its region with wins over Central and Carl Hayden Community and is looking to win out in hopes of making the play-in tournament. Currently, the Spartans are ranked 37th overall and need to climb 13 places to make the tournament.  

Camelback is home against Verrado (3-2-2) on Wednesday while Carl Hayden Community (0-5-1) travels to Betty H. Fairfax (0-5) on Thursday.