Following a 1-0 loss to Mission Prep and a 1-1 tie at Paso Robles High School, the Lady Broncos varsity soccer squad won three straight in a San Joaquin Valley tournament. Coast Union nipped McFarland 3-2 on Dec. 14, shaded Taft 2-1 on Dec. 15 and blanked Kern Valley 2-0 also on the Dec.15 in that tournament.

“It’s not just one girl setting up the goals,” said head coach Tamara Corbet. “They are really playing as a team. They are showing good passing and good ball control.

“We’ve always known this team has a lot of potential but the hardest thing is getting them to play together, communicate on the field.

“Each game in the tournament we got better” as far as unity on the team, the coach explained. “The girls even said they could tell they were playing together better with each game.”

In the 3-2 win against McFarland, Cristina Plasencia had 1 assist; Maddy May had an assist and a goal; Remy Corbet had an assist and a goal; and Itzel Saavedra had a header for a goal.

Against Taft, Gabby Bucio had 6 saves, Amy Avina had a goal (assisted by Maddy May) and Plasencia had a goal assisted by Pauline Torres. And in the 2-0 win over Kern Valley Bucio had 11 saves, Plasencia had two goals and assists for those goals are credited to Corbet and Avina, Tamara Corbet reported.

When Plasencia, a junior, “hits her top speed, she’s fast and aggressive.” But the coach also gave credit to Morgan May and Maritza Cortez. “You don’t see their names on the stat sheet but they make a huge difference because they control the middle. They don’t let the other teams control the middle — and that’s what makes our offense go.”

The Lady Broncos play in a tournament in Santa Maria Dec. 27, and their first game will be against Paso Robles, a team they tied 1-1 on Dec. 6.

The next boys’ soccer match is Saturday, Dec. 22, an 11 a.m. home contest against Liberty High School.