Tatiana Soglin’s goal three minutes into the second half was the night’s only scoring as Benicia High’s girls varsity soccer team escaped Corbus Field with a 1-0 victory over Vallejo on Tuesday.

Vallejo was trying to clear the ball from its zone when Soglin took control and blasted a shot into the lower right-corner of the net to put the Lady Panthers ahead to stay.

Benicia goalkeeper Madison Goodmiller made a save on a point-blank Vallejo breakaway and recorded the shutout. It was the second straight shutout victory for the Lady Panthers, who beat Vallejo, 2-0, at Drolette Stadium just prior to Spring Break.

“We’re still struggling offensively but we’re getting just enough to win the game,” said Benicia head coach Javier Martinez. “Our defense stayed strong and our goalie played pretty good.”

Benicia defenders Kaela Thyrion and Taylor Coppa locked down the middle of the field and never let the Lady Redhawks get on track.

It was a crucial win for the Lady Panthers (7-6-1, 4-1-1 Solano County Athletic Conference), who put some distance between themselves and fourth-place Vallejo (2-3-1 SCAC). Benicia still trails first-place American Canyon by two points and Vanden by one point. The Lady Panthers host Vanden on Thursday night.

“We needed those three points,” Martinez said. “We started strong in the second half, got that big goal from Tatiana and then managed to hold on by our fingernails. Now we have a big game with Vanden coming up and we need to get another three points.”

Tuesday’s win gave Benicia a season sweep of Vallejo and gives the Lady Panthers a tiebreaker should it be needed to determine playoff spots.

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