Van Buren received goals from freshman Santiago De La Fuente, sophomore Said Mendez and junior Kho Phalakhone in a 3-1 victory over rival Alma in a 5A-West matchup. The Pointers, the Class 5A runner-ups from last season, secured at least a No. 3 seed with the win.
"I feel really good," Van Buren Coach Nathan Almond said of his team on a three-game winning streak. "We have seven freshmen playing with a lot of sophomores. We are young, but we are starting to figure things out playing well. We are putting things together offensively and defensively. We are in a good spot."
De La Fuente scored the opening goal of the game off a corner deflection with 21 minutes left in the first half. It was his 10th goal playing in his first varsity season.
"It was a part of the game plan that came with a great finish," De La Fuente said. "It's always good to do this against our rivals. It's always good to beat Alma. It's been a very fun and great year with the experience as a freshman. I love the team and coach helps a lot. It's been a great year."
Phalakhone then connected on his third goal of the season. The conversation made it a 2-0 lead with six minutes before the break.
"It was a really good game today," said Phalakhone, who was the 2023 River Valley Democrat-Gazette Co-Newcomer of the Year. "I just tried to be my best. I'm excited for this one because it was a good one. This was a good win for us moving forward."
Alma (4-8-5, 2-8-3) was able to cut the Van Buren (11-8, 8-5) lead to 2-1 heading into the break after Elliot Resinos scored on a penalty kick. He did so with just two minutes before halftime. It was a defensive stalemate in the second half until Mendez converted on his 12th goal of the season with just 16 seconds left in the match.
"That was a sweet one," Mendez said. "It took a lot of shots, but we came out in the end. This hopefully gives us a lot of momentum getting ready for Farmington. We want to try to get that second spot."
Van Buren goalie Manning Dodson finished with four saves for the Pointers, including one inside the box.
Van Buren had to defend four consecutive corner kicks in the final five minutes to hold on late before adding the insurance goal. Alma was guided by Resinos' goal and the standout effort from goalkeeper Lukas Todd, who finished with 16 saves to help keep the Airedales in the game with his heroics.
"With Todd in the goal, our guys really went hard," said Alma Coach Cory Sturdivant of his Airedales, who have the most wins in a season in program history this year. "That's the Alma way playing the entire time. I told them that is a win in my book. They played so hard and showed what they could do."
GIRLS
VAN BUREN 3, ALMA 1
In the final week of the regular season, three seniors stepped up to score goals and another senior helped preserve a come-from-behind rivalry win Monday at Airedale Stadium.
Sarai Torres, Briana Gutierrez and Aspen Cone scored three unanswered goals while Avery Mulloy had nine saves for the Lady Pointers to snap a six-game skid.
"All three of those goals were just from effort," Van Buren Coach Brian Dodson said. "That's big. We have six seniors and three of them find a way to score. It's big with the rivalry. The keeper is a position not many people want to step up and do. She is all-in and gave a great effort. She has done a great job."
After a scoreless first half, Alma (5-12-2, 1-12-2) scored the game's initial goal with Juliet Hargis finding the net off an assist from Yoseline Gonzalez with 34 minutes left in the game.
Van Buren (3-14-2, 2-12-1) found its offensive firepower after that to rally and pull away. Torres scored the team's first goal and her fifth of the season to tie at 1-1 with a penalty kick after a teammate drew the foul. She scored with 28 minutes left in the game.
"We knew we needed to get a goal in to tie it up," Torres said. "We fought as hard as we could. I'm thankful we drew that penalty. We did the best we could keeping our head in the game. We didn't feed into any negativity. I have to be the best for my team as a captain. I'm blessed to have everyone of my teammates."
The Lady Pointers turned to heroics after that. Gutierrez had the go-ahead goal for her sixth this season with 17 minutes left in the game. She scored from about 30 yards away during a breakaway.
"I really just wanted to give us the lead there," Gutierrez said. "That kind of got me there for the motivation. This is a goal I'll remember for sure. This one I curled it around, so it was a good one."
Cone, playing soccer for the first time this season since she was in elementary school, added her second goal of the season for insurance with 14 minutes left in the contest.
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