NORCO —Goalkeeper Chris Salazar made four saves in the second half and the Corona boys soccer team needed every one. The 5-foot-10 sophomore came up with two especially close-range stops in the final 10 minutes as Corona and Norco played to a 1-1 draw Friday night in the Big VIII League opener for both teams. “(Salazar) made a really good save right at the end – could be the save of the year – and I think we would’ve been in trouble without that,” Corona coach Mike Sutherland said. Sophomore midfielder Rooney Rodriguez scored in the first half for Corona (9-2-2 overall), which came into the match averaging 3.5 goals per game. “It wasn’t the type of game that I like or one that I prefer but it’s a point on the road and we’ll take it,” said Sutherland, who led to Corona to a CIF Southern Section title in 2014 and previously retired following the 2015 season. Senior defender Chris Garcia got his head to a corner kick in the second half as Norco (6-1-4) found an equalizer and held on to earn a point in its first home match of 2025. “It’s always good when you don’t lose in the Big VIII,” Norco coach Irving Lopez said. Corona, which won seven consecutive over 14 days in December, is just 1-1-1 over its last three matches. “This wasn’t our best game,” Sutherland said. “We need to keep the ball on the ground, knock it around and play clean soccer. We didn’t want to get into a jump ball game with Norco.” Set up outside the top left corner of the penalty area, Rodriguez blistered a free kick out of the reach of Norco junior goalkeeper Mauricio Aguilar and into the side netting to open the scoring in the 29th minute. “Not for a single second did I think one goal was going to be enough,” Sutherland said. After halftime, Norco was more aggressive and earned a free kick and then a corner kick, which senior Brady Wagner placed deep into the goal area. Garcia, sneaking around a defender, poked his head out of a crowd and tucked the ball into the net past Salazar in the 51st minute to tie the game. “We’ve played from behind already a lot this season and we’ve come back and got a lot of wins and a lot of ties,” Lopez said. “We keep preaching to these boys to keep fighting all the way till the end. Sometimes you get pretty goals and sometimes it’s ugly.” Lopez was forced to replace Aguilar after an injury near the 60th minute, but sophomore Noah Ruelas had little to do as Norco limited Corona’s opportunities in the second half. Related Articles High School Sports | All-Inland Girls Cross Country: Santiago’s Rylee Blade is the IE Varsity Runner of the Year High School Sports | All-Inland Girls Volleyball: Murrieta Valley’s Miley Thunstrom is the IE Varsity Player of the Year High School Sports | IE Varsity’s high school boys basketball rankings, Dec. 31 High School Sports | IE Varsity’s high school girls basketball rankings, Dec. 31 High School Sports | Roosevelt boys basketball team outlasts St. John Bosco, repeats as Classic at Damien champs It’s the fourth consecutive tie for Norco, which drew all three games at the SilverLakes Winter Classic tournament before losing to Chino Hills, 4-3 in a shootout, in the title game on Dec. 27. Norco won both matchups against Corona last season on its way to earning a berth in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, but the Cougars have totaled just four wins against the Panthers since 2007.