Monterey freshman keeper Amerika Alvizo shines in district-opening win over Coronado

Amerika Alvizo admitted she was a bit nervous before Friday's match.

It was the freshman goalkeeper's first district game, and Monterey entered with a lengthy losing streak to crosstown rival Coronado. If this were to be the Lady Plainsmen's first win since 2016, Alvizo figured she'd have to play a big role.

She delivered like a seasoned pro.

Alvizo made six saves, and Monterey's Aliza Garcia made a penalty-kick goal in the final minutes, to thwart the reigning league champions 1-0 in the District 4-5A opener Friday at PlainsCapital Park-Lowrey Field.

Alvizo foreshadowed her standout performance with a diving save midway through the opening half. On a Coronado set piece from about 30 yards out, the freshman extended to grab the shot before it could reach the back corner.

Alvizo said she felt "awake" after the stop and rode the momentum to the shutout.

"It was clutch," Lady Plainsmen coach Jarod Loffler said. "The way she hangs onto the ball, it doesn't come out. She's just full of confidence. I totally get that making that first save you're like, 'Yeah, I got this.' Any time (opponents) are taking a shot from 25 yards out, I don't even get panicked anymore."

Alvizo made a similar diving save with 10 minutes remaining to preserve a scoreless match. Half a minute later, the Lady Mustangs (5-6-2 overall, 0-1 district) missed another opportunity wide left.

It was that kind of night for Coronado, which out-shot Monterey 11-6. The Lady Mustangs also had a pair of shots hit the post.

"That's soccer," Coronado coach Alistair Caldwell said. "That's what happens. We were the better team tonight. We deserved to win by a few goals, and we go away with a loss."

The Lady Mustangs graduated almost all of their offensive production from last season, but Caldwell said the team is starting to put it together on that side of the ball.

"You saw that tonight with the chances we created," he said. "Just unlucky. I can't fault them for their effort and the chances that they missed. Their goalie made six great saves, (we) hit the post twice. Offensively, I think we did fine tonight. We'll bounce back next week."

One might surmise Friday's performance was the best of Alvizo's short high-school career. But Loffler is already getting used to that type of effort. The freshman posted three shutouts during an undefeated run for the Lady Plainsmen (10-2, 1-0) at the Governor's Cup tournament last week in Georgetown.

"I'm not gonna lie, she's like that every game," Loffler said. "I'm not lying. … It's ridiculous how well she plays and how hard she works. It shows in practice, and it's not a coincidence that she plays this way in games and makes those saves. She works on it every day."

Loffler said he knew since the summer that Alvizo was in line to start in goal. She called soccer her "passion," particularly getting to play with this year's group.

"It's like a sisterhood that I have with them," Alvizo said. "I love them like my own. It's more than a sport to me."

Alvizo said it was a big win to end Coronado's dominance in the rivalry, adding she knows the teams will see each other again. Still, it was quite the way to introduce herself to the district.

"They want to win for each other," Loffler said, "and I think that's the biggest part is that they play for each other. And also having people that can save shots the way that Amerika does really helps, too."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Monterey freshman keeper Amerika Alvizo shines in win over Coronado