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Girls soccer: East Aurora, West Aurora battle to a draw

Katharine Stephens' final quality scoring chance slid harmlessly past the East Aurora right post in the final half-minute of play.

As a result, the standout forward and her West Aurora teammates had to settle for a 1-1 draw with archrival East Aurora Tuesday night in the schools' Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division girls soccer match.

"It was so frustrating," said Stephens, who personally accounted for 9 of the Blackhawks' 22 shot attempts. "The field was uneven, and all of our crosses were going sideways. We had so many scoring chances, but failed to capitalize on them."

Trailing by a score late in the match, West Aurora midfielder Marlene Sanchez was fouled in the Tomcats' goal area.

The sophomore drilled the ensuing penalty kick underneath the crossbar with 6 minutes, 28 seconds to play.

"I was scared that I would fail," Sanchez said. "There was no other option but to score. We were running out of time."

The match was a far cry different from the teams' meeting last month, a 5-1 West Aurora victory at its tournament over spring break.

The Tomcats' Bianca Esparza was the central reason why.

The senior had a ubiquitous presence for East Aurora the entire match.

Mirroring the role Stephens performed for the Blackhawks, Esparza was a one-man offensive opportunity act for the Tomcats.

Bailey Ziman made 7 saves for West Aurora as its keeper; every single shot came from Esparza.

But before Esparza ultimately broke the scoreless draw early in the second half, the Tomcats (3-10-1, 0-1-1) had to endure several West Aurora onslaughts.

The Tomcats' keeper, Daisy Quinonez, and junior Brenda Pineda collaborated on the defining defensive play of the match in the fifth minute.

Quinonez had a sprawling one-handed save to deny Stephens' bid from point-blank range; the Blackhawks' Itzel Ochoa appeared to have a sure goal on the rebound, however.

But Pineda, with her keeper completely out of the picture, blocked the second shot with her shin inches from the goal-line.

Eleven-plus minutes into the second half, West Aurora (4-6-1, 0-1-1) was cited for a foul barely inside midfield.

The Tomcats' Marubeni Nieto arched a long pass down the middle that found Esparza perfectly in stride.

Esparza broke the ice with a header.

"It was an amazing center by Maru," Esparza said. "All I had to do was tap it in."

West Aurora dominated the offensive action for the remainder of the match.

But East Aurora always seemed to dodge the equalizer - until the fateful foul was called.

"You just have to live with it," Esparza said. "It's an East-West game; there's always a lot of nerves."

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