Behind eight saves and standout play from freshman goalkeeper Carolina Lopez-Villegas, the Sedona Red Rock High School girls soccer team defended for its life in its 1-0 win over visiting Paradise Honors High School on Jan. 7.

Despite defending well, the Scorpions [5-1-1] were fortunate to escape the first half without giving up a goal, as the Panthers still managed to create a fistful of clear chances.

“They should be tying and winning the game,” head coach Juan Carlos Aguilar said. “I think my players did a good defense, confident defense. My goalkeeper had a great day, she stopped all the shots they had on goal.”

Red Rock grabbed its goal inside of the first three minutes. Freshman forward Amari Sonn took advantage of Paradise Honors goalkeeper Sophia V. coming far out of her goal to contest the ball.

Sonn pushed the ball into the back of the net, and from then on the Scorpions were content with sitting back and defending.

“Once we got the first goal we played more defensively to make sure they didn’t score on us and to keep it that way,” junior midfielder Alicia Pallares said. “We wanted to play safe and the safe thing to do was to play more defensively.”

The defense bent but did not break. Paradise Honors managed eight shots in the first half, three of which Lopez-Villegas were forced to save.

Its best chances came when its players had time and space to pick out their passes, and on more than one occasion players had the ball at their feet inside the penalty area, but failed to convert.

“We need to pressure more and faster because we just let them have their space and come forward to us and we shouldn’t let them do that,” Pallares said.

According to Aguilar, his team had a hard time closing the gaps on defense, allowing the Panthers to be comfortable on the ball, because of a lack of fitness. During the two-week break he worked with only four or five of his players, he said.

With 11 minutes left, a corner was nearly headed in at the far post, and in the dying seconds of the half, a shot scurried just wide of the goal.

Throughout the game, Red Rock struggled to create more opportunities to score because of the offensive talent Paradise Honors possessed.

“We didn’t have a chance to go too much into the attacking mode because of the great pressure and organization of the other team,” Aguilar said.

When it did possess the ball, passes forward were always too heavy or misplaced, allowing the speedy Panther defenders to easily recollect them.

“In practice we’re really going to try harder and watch how strong our passes are to assist our forwards,” senior midfielder Sierra Fraley said.

In the second half the Panthers continued to press the issue, with its best chance of the game coming two minutes in. A counterattack led to a low cross that zipped through the six-yard box and turned off the crossbar.

Lopez-Villegas had to save five of their 10 second-half shots, and keenly came out of goal to smother the ball when necessary.

“Carolina did amazing and I don’t know if it wasn’t for her we definitely would have lost,” Pallares said. “So she’s probably the most valuable player of the game and I’m very grateful to have her.”

Aguilar was pleased with his team’s ability to get a win against a more seasoned Panther group.

“I’m very proud of these small girls, you know, it’s very much a freshman team playing against a senior team,” Aguilar said.

The Scorpions played at the NFL YET Academy on Jan. 10, but results were unavailable at press time. They next play Saturday, Jan. 14, at home against Page High School.