Palo Verde’s boys soccer team has developed its identity this season by playing stingy defense and getting strong outings from goalie Landon Blanchard.

The Panthers relied on both of their strengths against Bishop Gorman on Tuesday night.

Palo Verde, No. 3 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, got a stellar performance from Blanchard and its defense, and the Panthers found the back of the net in the second half to pull away for a 2-0 home win over No. 2 Gorman.

“This is how we’re going to be effective and how we’re going to play,” Palo Verde coach Scott Hunt said. “It’s going to be a matter of if we score on our chances. If we score goals, we’ll be successful, because defensively we’ve been sound all year and (Blanchard’s) been great.”

Blanchard’s play kept Palo Verde (6-3-3, 6-2-2 5A Southern League) in it in the first half. He made back-to-back saves on a free kick by Gorman (10-3-1, 6-3-1), first making a kick save falling to the ground and then leaping to block a rebound shot.

“I just knew that I had to keep the ball out of the back of the net because if (Gorman scored), the momentum was going to keep rolling and (the shots) were going to keep coming,” Blanchard said. “Making big saves like that stops the momentum and keeps us going.”

After a scoreless first half, Palo Verde broke through when Jonathan Villanueva scored within the first minute of the second half off a Trevon Aytch assist. The Panthers added to their lead midway through the second half when Shilo Stephenson scored on a rebound after a corner kick to go ahead 2-0.

Villanueva and Stephenson started the season on junior varsity, and Hunt credited his younger players with stepping up and accepting their roles as the season has gone on.

“That’s made us a better team,” Hunt said. “We are very organized, and defensively we’ve been strong, and now we understand to win games we have to be strong in the back and make sure we don’t give up any goals.”

The Panthers rode their defense and Blanchard the rest of the way. They were constantly breaking up Gorman’s pass attempts, denying corner kick opportunities, and Blanchard stayed steady in the net.

Playing solid defense “boosts everyone’s morale, and everyone was playing great on the back line,” Blanchard said. “Everything just comes together. Everyone was clicking as a unit, and everyone enjoyed playing the game when it’s going well.”

Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.