GV soccer throws hat back in title race with controversial win

Marina Arroyo was seeking redemption.

The Golden Valley High School goalkeeper shouldered quite a bit of blame for the Cougars’ loss to crosstown rival Merced in the first round of Central California Conference play.

So when the Bears’ apparent equalizer was called back in the 70th minute Tuesday night, few celebrated more than the Golden Valley senior. Arroyo made five big saves and got help from the post twice as Golden Valley kept alive its CCC title hopes with a 1-0 victory at Veterans Stadium.

The Cougars’ win, coupled with Turlock’s 1-0 loss to Pitman, put Golden Valley (10-5-1, 6-3-1) three points behind Merced (11-3-2, 7-2-1) and Turlock (7-2-1 CCC) entering the final round of league play.

“I lost us the first game against Merced, so this one meant a lot to me,” Arroyo said. “We knew coming in if we wanted a chance to win CCC, we had to win this game. I thought I’d let my team down again when they scored the free kick.

“Obviously, it meant a lot when they called it back. We celebrated like we’d won league.”

The controversy came in the 70th minute, when Merced was awarded an indirect free kick just inside the 18-yard box on a dangerous play. After a quick touch to restart play, Niccole Salm fired a left-footed blast around the wall and into the back of the net.

While the Bears celebrated, the referees conferred and overturned the goal, ruling the ball never moved from its original spot after the Merced player touched it.

“I thought it was a bad call,” said Bladimir Murillo, who was in his first game as Merced’s coach with Megan Atoigue on leave after giving birth Monday. “The ball clearly rolled. If it went right back to where it was, I can’t say, but you could see it move.

“It was just a night where we couldn’t catch a break. We hit a few posts and controlled most of the second half, but they have a very good counter. They worked a few against us and made one count.”

Megan Pust deserves considerable credit for that. The sophomore striker’s pace constantly troubled Merced’s defense. She appeared to open the scoring 25 minutes into the game when she redirected in a Justyne Sanchez shot, but she was ruled offside.

Pust left no doubt three minutes into the second half. After Elizabeth Davila’s through ball sprang her free, Pust held off a defender and slid a shot under a charging Jessika McClesky (three saves) for the only goal.

“The girls knew the title was still well within reach with six games to go,” Cougars coach Lance Eber said. “This was a game where everything we spend hours working on in practice was executed, and they got the result we needed.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 11:07 PM with the headline "GV soccer throws hat back in title race with controversial win."