Fantastic finishes for Colusa, Sutter in section finals

For the second year in a row, Katelyn Mena stood in goal for Colusa in a penalty shootout for the Division III girls soccer championship.

And for the second year in a row, Mena lifted the championship plaque after the game.

"I've told everyone since beginning of the year that we're going to play Williams and it's going to go to a shootout," Mena said. "The same thing happened last year so I just prepared myself for the same thing."

It's a three-peat for the Redskins girls soccer team, who captured their third straight section title with a 2-1 victory over the Yellowjackets in the Northern Section Division III championship on Saturday.

Tied 1-1 after regulation, neither team put the ball in the net in the two 10-minute overtime periods or in the two five-minute, sudden-death overtime periods.

Brenda Arambula got Williams off to a good start in the shootout, firing a bullet past Mena but Stephanie Munguia drilled her counter home for Colusa.

Williams' star player Limbet Mena stepped up and placed her shot to the left of Katelyn Mena who dove and knocked the ball away to give the Redskins a chance to take the lead.

Mimi Rinzler gave the Redskins the 2-1 advantage with a perfect shot just past the fingertips of Williams goalkeeper Sandra Cruz.

Both teams traded shots that bounced off the post, nearly in the same spot, then Katelyn Mena came up with a save on Dulce Velazquez's hard shot right down the middle, swinging the momentum in Colusa's favor.

When Cruz stepped back in goal there were tears in her eyes but she knocked down Valeria Dominquez's shot to give Williams one last chance to force another round of penalty kicks.

But Natalie Reyes couldn't get the ball past Mena and the Redskins swarmed the field.

"You get to the championship game and it gets intense," said Redskins coach Randy Watt, whose team tied and lost to the Yellowjackets in Sacramento Valley League play.

The Yellowjackets controlled the game for most of the first half and scored the first goal of the game in the 49th minute of the second half when Mena took the cross off a corner kick and put it in the back of the net.

Colusa fought back hard and scored on a penalty kick after Ashley Biggs was taken down hard from behind in the 58th minute. Sandra MacPherson made good on the free kick to tie the game at one.

The Redskins topped the Yellowjackets 1-0 to win the 2010 title, and since that day, the team made a point of prevailing again.

"It's been our goal since we won last year," Watt said.

Sutter 1, West Valley 0

The Sutter High girls soccer team's seventh consecutive Northern Section title sure didn't come easy.

Lindsey Moore scored at the beginning of the first overtime and the Huskies defense held strong as No. 2 Sutter slipped past top-seeded West Valley 1-0 in the Northern Section Division I title game at the Redding Soccer Complex.

"It was a hell of a game," said Sutter coach Jeff Stanhope.

Sutter (17-2) benefited especially from the play of senior sweeper Katie Olson and goalie Samantha Foster, Stanhope said.

"They played an unbelieveable game," Stanhope said. "Without them we definitely wouldn't have won.

"The whole team did outstanding but these girls ... led the way."

Moore scored right after the whistle blew to start the first overtime period, which was played without standout striker Erika Linch, who collided with two Eagles' players and injured her leg, he said. Linch was taken to the hospital after the game to be checked out.

– Appeal-Democrat