Coronado girls edge Arbor View, advance to 5A state semis — PHOTOS

Coronado’s girls soccer team didn’t have the smoothest end to the regular season. The defending Class 5A state champions won just twice in the past five weeks.

None of that mattered when the playoffs began Wednesday.

Katherine Russell scored a tiebreaking goal in the 74th minute, and Coronado, the Southern League’s No. 5 seed, held on for a 2-1 road win at No. 4 Arbor View in a 5A Southern League state quarterfinal to keep its hopes alive to defend its title.

“It’s been a work in progress all season,” Coronado coach Dana Neel said. “We’ve had certain situations throughout the year that we had to learn from. It didn’t always go our way, but this (win) today, showed all the lessons we learned.”

Coronado (13-6-2) will face top-seeded Faith Lutheran — a 3-0 winner over No. 8 Cimarron-Memorial — in a state semifinal on Nov. 8 at a time and Southern site to be determined.

“We put together a fight to come away with that 2-1 win,” Neel said. “I’m proud of them for keeping composed through it all, and we did what we needed to do.”

Arbor View (8-5-4) scored late in the first half on a Molly Marsh goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Coronado had some chances early in the second half to strike, but couldn’t get past Aggies goalie Emily Marks. Then the Cougars struck late in the second half.

A long pass from the midfield found an open Russell, and the senior scored from a few yards out.

“We started connecting with the midfield, and we played our own game,” Russell said. “Then at the end, we finally made that final pass in the midfield and put it away.”

Coronado’s defense and goalie Emma Duda successfully stopped an Arbor View corner kick and throw-in attempt during stoppage time.

“We all wanted it,” Russell said. “No one stopped working hard. We were all pushing through to the last second of the game for the (final) whistle to blow.”

Cate Gusick scored in the seventh minute on an assist from Allison Kleiner to put Coronado ahead 1-0. Marks made several stops to keep it at a one-goal deficit before Marsh scored as she gathered a loose ball in front of the net.

Coronado and Faith Lutheran will meet a little earlier than in previous playoffs. The schools have played one another for the state championship in the top classification for the past four seasons. Faith Lutheran won the title in 2019 and 2022, and Coronado won in 2021 and 2023.

All four games were decided by one goal. So were the teams’ regular-season games, both won by the Crusaders.

“Anybody we face this season is going to be a tough competitor,” Neel said. “We just have to play our best and play our game. If we do that, then it could go our way.”