After a close outing against Gustine High School on Tuesday, Denair girls soccer head coach Mark Morphy wanted the team to play with more consistency heading into Friday’s match.
That consistency - which has played a role in the team’s success - was showcased in Denair’s 4-0 shutout win against Delhi High School on Friday at Jack W. Lytton Stadium.
The Coyotes improved to 12-5-1 overall, surpassing last season’s win total of 11 games. They also remain undefeated in Southern League play at 8-0, tying last season’s win total in league play.
When reflecting on what has helped the program improve yearly, Morphy credited the senior player’s consistent play and maturity with some of them even playing on the varsity team when Morphy took the helm as the program’s head coach in the 2022-23 season.
“They (the seniors) are very consistent. They know how to play. They’ve been with us,” Morphy said. “I think the maturity of the seniors who carry us throughout the entire game.”
The Coyotes offense was led by their two leading goal scorers, sophomore midfielder Jazmin Padilla and senior forward Abby Hernandez. Padilla recorded a hat trick, increasing her total score to 32 goals this season. For Hernandez, she scored her seventh goal of the season.
Padilla said that with the amount of Delhi defenders trying to pressure them, Denair had to take advantage of Delhi’s mistakes.
“It was really honestly difficult because they were clustered … we had to find those little mistakes,” Padilla said about Delhi’s defense.
Just moments after Delhi’s junior goalkeeper Ruby Murillo deflected her shot attempt, Padilla, who had multiple Delhi defenders near her at the penalty box, struck the ball into the right corner of Delhi’s goalpost to give Denair a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.
As the Coyotes headed into intermission with a one-point lead, they flipped a switch offensively in the second half.
Within the first six minutes of the second half, Padilla scored her second goal of the match. Padilla dribbled past midfield and struck the ball through the upper center of Delhi’s goalpost and over Murillo to extend Denair’s lead to two points.
Afterward, Hernandez broke past multiple Hawks defenders and scored another goal for the Coyotes as they started to break away from this game.
“Our team just worked really well together and that’s what helped me score,” Hernandez said. “We just played really well together (and) that set up opportunities for us.”
While they were finding their rhythm offensively, the Coyotes’ defenders were contesting and the Hawks’ player’s shot attempts with timely stops near their goalpost.
With nearly two minutes remaining in the match, a foul was called after Padilla collided with multiple Delhi defenders near the penalty box which resulted in a penalty kick. The sophomore star calmly struck the dagger in their league matchup.
As the regular season comes to a near end, Denair currently sits at the top of the Southern League with Gustine High School and Stone Ridge Christian High School sitting in second and third place, respectively.
With Denair having just played two homes this week, they will host Le Grand High School on Jan.31 at 3:30 p.m.
