Palo Verde defeated Douglas 6-0 in the championship game of the Palo Verde Invitational Tuesday afternoon to remain perfect on the year. The Titans are 14-0 overall, 5-0 in power-ranking games and 2-0 in section play heading into the winter break.

Leading the way for the Titans this year is junior forward Jackie Igulu.  Igulu came into the final with 37 goals, just one shy of her season-best of 38 she recorded last year. She assisted Michelle Sigala in the 20th minute and then scored back-to-back goals in the 34th (Khadijo Mohamed) and the 39th (Marilyn McFeaters) to give her 39 goals on the year and, more importantly, to put her team up 3-0 at the half.

"I think I'm having a pretty good year," Igulu said. "But we are all working towards the same goal and we want to win a state championship. We are all on the same page."

Igulu is the fourth member of her family to play football and/or soccer at Palo Verde and she has a sister in the pipeline but 11-year-old Jessica is obviously a few years away from making a name for herself on the high school pitch like Jackie.

Like LeeAndra Smith (Arizona) and Jasmine Stokes (Cal Baptist) before her, Jackie is destined to also have her name put on the "Hall of Fame" wall at Palo Verde like the other standouts that came before her.

Stokes scored 51 goals twice to set was is believed to be a Tucson record but former Sahuarita standout Taylor McClelland recorded 59 goals her sophomore year (2013) to set was is thought to be a state single-season record.  If anyone can break that record it would have to be Igulu.

McFeaters assisted Bre Lopez in the 65th minute to make it 4-0 and Sigala assisted McFeaters in the 70th to make the score 5-0. Igulu got her hat trick in the 75th on a solo shot as she took the ball from 30 yards out and weaved her way through traffic for the point-blank score.

The third goal gave her 40 on the year with at least seven games remaining in the regular season. McFeaters, by the way, is only a freshman.

Douglas is 5-7 overall and 0-2 in section play but the Bulldogs had a great showing at the invitational.

Flowing Wells defeated Desert View via forfeit to start out the championship bracket on Tuesday morning and then Cholla defeated Vista Grande 3-0 in the other consolation game. Alyssa Castro, Erykah Vega and Alondra Hernandez (Vega) provided the scoring.

The third place game was the most exciting match of the day with Sunnyside outlasting Buena in 4-3 PKs after a 2-2 tie in regulation.

Julie Hauger put the Colts up 1-0 two minutes into the match but Seti Valencia tied it up 1-1 heading into the half. Ashten Kinslow put Buena back up 2-1 in the 69th minute but a miracle shot from freshman Marissa Dicochea with about one second on the clock sent the game to PKs.

In soccer, the ball has to be in the goal as the buzzer sounds in order to count and Dicochea's offering was almost perfect. Almost.

"I knew we had almost no chance of winning so I stayed calm," the freshman explained. "It was actually supposed to be a pass to the front of the goal but I turned and saw it bounce and it went in."

Her "pass" to the front of the goal took a high bounce and hit just off the fingertips of the goalie and found the back of the net as time expired. It took six rounds of PKs to decide the winner.

Buena went first and Hauger hit the right side for the 1-0 lead. Anay Garcia tied it up for Sunnyside on a shot to the left. Kerstyn Linde put Buena up 2-1 on another offering to the right but Monique Tamayo made it 2-2 in similar fashion.

Perla Blanco blocked Erin McDaniel's kick and then Mireya Olea put Sunnyside up 3-2 on a high shot to the right. Tara Case just missed the goal for Buena but Rocio Barajas hit the crossbar to keep the score 3-2 in favor of Sunnyside.

Ariel Conroy tied the session up at 3-3 and then Abigail DeWeber blocked Yaxza Dorame's attempt to keep Buena in the game. Blanco blocked Denise Peterson's shot which gave Selene Rosales a chance to win it for Sunnyside and she did just that on a shot to the left.

As it turns out, Buena and Sunnyside will begin section play on Wednesday, Jan. 6 with the Colts visiting the Blue Devils in a rematch.

Walden Grove will host the last Southern Arizona soccer invitational of the year and that is set to start on Monday, Dec. 28.