Perhaps the soccer gods sought to even things out for Perry High's boys team on Saturday afternoon.

Two days after opening its season with a 3-2 loss to Desert Mountain in a power-ranking game, Perry conjured up a 2-0 win over Highland on the first day of Group A play at the week-long Coyote Classic at Campo Verde High. 

"We lost a tough one (Thursday) in our first game," Perry coach Brian Crayon said. "I think we outshot them something like 14-3, but we only got two in. We got lucky with the first one today. Those kind of goals have eluded us in the past. It's nice to get that first win."

Perry took advantage of Highland keeper Kyle Pullin's mistake in the match's early moments. A loose ball slipped past Pullin well in front of the net and Perry's Alex O'Dell gained control. O'Dell dribbled past Pullin and poked it in the right corner of the empty net in the 13th minute. O'Dell was Perry's leader in goals last season.

HIghland acutally had a few more chances in the opening half, especially the set-piece variety. The Hawks couldn't convert. Perry keeper Collin Graham had a couple nice saves to help protect the Pumas' first-half lead.

Perry added the dagger in the 65th minute on a direct kick. Junior Pearson Wallace hammered in a the shot from about 30 yards out with a top-shelf effort that Pullin had no chance to stop. Perry missed on several shots in the final five minutes, settling for two-goal win. Highland entered the contest 2-1 in its three power-rankiing matches, including a 3-1 win over Kofa on Friday night.

"I thought we played pretty well given we have about six guys out with injuries," Crayon said. "One of themis long term, but the others the guys should be back before the tournament is over. We had some guys come up (JV) today and they did a good job."

In other Group A boys matches played on Saturday at Campo Verde, Desert Vista beat Dobson, 4-1 and South Mountain topped Basha, 4-0. Group A girls results were Corona del Sol 2-0 over Mountain Pointe and Perry 5-1 over Red Mountain.

Group B matches in the tournament are being played at Williams Field High. Saturday's boys results -- North Canyon 5-0 over Casa Grande; Williams Field 2-1 over Mesa Mtn. View; Higley 1-0 over Red Mountain and Mountain Pointe 2-0 over Maricopa. Girls results -- Higley 3-0 over Skyline; Williams Field 4-3 over Fountain HIlls and Casa Grande 1-0 over Mesa. 

Group play continues Monday (Dec. 5) through Friday (Dec. 9) at both sites.