Cara Stephens knocked in the game-winning goal as No. 7 Granite Hills knocked off Steele Canyon, 3-2, on Tuesday in a Grossmont-South League match at Granite Hills. Stephens thought out of the box when she positioned herself away from the other jerseys and booted in a corner kick from Danielle Jones in the 75th minute. Tiffany Apple came up with two consecutive saves in the final two minutes to secure the victory for the Eagles (13-3-4, 3-1-1).

Steele Canyon (9-5-4, 2-2-1) packed quite a punch, but the Cougars gave up too many opportunities in the last quarter of the game. Coach Charlie Cleaves said the loss was hard to swallow as he thought his team had bagged the win. Excellent defense by Candace Newton and multiple offensive pushes by Paige Neville contributed to the near upset.

First-half play was somewhat scattered. Granite Hills coach Elio Bello placed the blame on his playbook. He used four forwards for the first 40 minutes, which took the Eagles out of their comfort zone. The first half ended in a scoreless tie. Bello switched back to his normal lineup in the second half and the Eagles capitalized quickly on Michaela Rodriquez’s goal in the 48th minute. Steele Canyon tied the score minutes later when Chelsea Jenner came from the far left side to ground in the ball on the opposite side of the net and Neville tapped it in. Brittney Quarles headed a goal in the 61st minute to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. Despite a yellow-card happy referee who slowed down play, Granite Hills went on to score the final two goals from Elizabeth Pyle and Stephens. -Amberly Richardson