Cavegirls soccer blanks Volcano Vista, heads to state semifinals

Carlsbad's Alexa Dugan gets a shot by Volcano Vista's Alex Peralta in the second half of the Class 5A quarterfinals game on April 6, 2021. Carlsbad won, 1-0.

The Carlsbad Cavegirls undefeated season continues in the playoffs with the Cavegirls now just two victories away from claiming their first Blue Trophy after besting the Volcano Vista Lady Hawks in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The last two season Volcano Vista has been the Carlsbad Cavegirls boogeyman. In 2019 the Lady Hawks bested Carlsbad, 4-0 in the 5A semifinals en route to their state championship victory and in 2018 Volcano Vista beat Carlsbad in the 5A quarterfinals, 2-0.

This time the Cavegirls (9-0) returned the favor with a clean sheet win to end Volcano Vista’s (3-2-1) COVID-19 shortened season.

Both teams played close in the first half with each team getting one good goal opportunity, only to have the goalkeepers deny the scoring chances.

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After regrouping at halftime, Carlsbad got on the board seven minutes into the half. Emily Hervol lobbed the ball over the Volcano Vista defenders, allowing Alexa Dugan a one-on-one chance against the Hawks goalie. Her shot to the right side of the goal was true and it gave the Cavegirls the only goal they would need for the win.

“Emily knows where Alexa is going to go because they play together and train together,” Misty Long, Cavegirls head coach said. “You give Alexa a chance she’s going to finish. That’s what I told her. I told her she hadn’t got a lot of good looks but she was going to get one this game.”

Volcano Vista didn’t go away quietly and continued to attack. Carlsbad freshman goalie Korrine Bradford maintained her composure even with the extra pressure and didn’t let a single shot find the back of the net.

“It’s great. Sam (Volcano Vista head coach Samantha Lucero) always does a great job with her teams,” Long said. “It’s great to get a win. I’m so proud of this team it’s not even funny. We knew they would come after us because that’s a team that wants to win. We had to weather the storm, especially after that goal. The back line and Korrine came out big time putting pressure on them. It was huge.”

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