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Both the Centennial and Liberty girls soccer programs have put together their best seasons - if not ever then the best in a long time - this winter.
And both Peoria schools had the difficult task of keeping the season alive during the first round of the playoffs Feb. 12, from completely opposite perspectives.
They Coyotes and Lions - along with fellow Peoria school Sunrise Mountain in Tucson - survived and advanced to the quarterfinals. Here's a look at the local games.
Jamie Brandon put it away with this goal in the 77th minute. Horizon’s Molly McGuiness scores on a header at (or maybe after) the horn.@CeHSathletics deserved this one. 5 good chances late w lead pic.twitter.com/AYizXtYRBm
5A girls first round: #10 Centennial 3 #7 Horizon 2
Centennial beat the Huskies at home by a 2-1 score. But Saturday's game at the school on the Phoenix-Scottsdale border shaped up as a pick 'em.
Instead, the visiting Coyotes were on the front foot most of the afternoon - thanks in part to the footwork of junior striker Leslie Duarte, paired with the relentless attack of a group of iron girls.
Duarte gave the road team the advantage in the fifth minute, getting three defenders off balance before scoring her first goal.
Horizon emerged from haltime on a mission and tied the game at 1 in the 44th minute on a header off senior Jennifer Partin’s corner.
The Huskies pushed for another, but a foul less than two minutes later led to a quick free kick by freshman defender Jaylei Miller got Duarte into space downfield. She wrong footed the defender before launching a gorgeous shot that curled back into the upper left corner of the net for a goal and a 2-1 lead.
"We knew when it was tied, we had to give it all we got," Duarte said. "I was, honestly, impressed with myself. I didn't know I could make that happen but I'm glad I did."
Coach Mark Shrake also credited Miller's quick thinking for setting up the goal and slamming the door shut on the Huskies' momentum.
She was part of a short-handed defense that was without senior captain Alexis Valencia until the last quarter of the game.
"I don't sub a lot unless they need to come out. We have a chemistry that I like to keep together," Centennial coach Marc Shrake said. "My senior captain was taking the ACT so she wasn't here until 10 minutes into the second half. Jaime's a freshman and very smart, with a very high soccer IQ."
Now up 2-1 with 31 minutes remaining, Centennial could have retreated into a defensive shell. That's not how the Coyotes play, however, and the visitors kept pressing and earned more scoring chances in the closing stretch.
After four or five near misses, Centennial midfielder Jamie Brandon put the game away in the 77th minute with a high shot straight down the middle of the goal and just under the crossbar.
"My second year I inherited a huge freshman class. As you can see most of my lineup in juniors who have played together three years. We've really focused on, from the opening whistle to the last horn, we've got to go. Teams like this can score in any given second. We cannot let up," Shrake said. "To go up 3-1 was huge because we were beat. It was hot out."
Horizon scored its second goal at the buzzer.
But Centennial will continue its breakthrough season after its first playoff victory in more than a decade. This team is in its third year together, after losing in the 2020 play-in and in the 2021 first round game.
"When the season started we struggled a little bit. We were scared to make mistakes and we didn't trust each other as a team. As the season continued we were able to grow our connection and trust with each other," Duarte said.
This hand ball in the box, totally accidental but correctly called leads to this @tatumthomasonn penalty kick and goal, her 34th of the season, with 3:20 left
Lions can’t get a 2nd We go OT pic.twitter.com/4AcVdkT5ej
6A girls first round: #4 Liberty 3 #13 Desert Ridge 1 (OT)
This game later Saturday afternoon also was a rematch, as Liberty won 3-2 Dec. 9 in Mesa. The rematch had a completely different feel.
Jaguars junior Taytum Walls got behind the Lions defense, gathered in the long ball and scored in the 10th minute for a 1-0 lead. For much of the following 65 minutes Desert Ridge stayed back in its defensive shell to try to make it stand, took its time and roughed up and increasingly frustrated Liberty team.
"We were missing two or three starters the first time we played them, so maybe that's my fault. I came in very confident. Maybe a little too confident," Liberty coach Kyle Pooler said. "In the first overtime we finally started playing our game. Their goalie was very good."
Liberty (16-5) spent most of the season ranked #1 in 6A, dropped to #2 just before the season finale with new #1 Scottsdale Chaparral and suddenly fell to #4 after a 3-1 overtime loss to the Firebirds.
Yet the Lions' best season since rising to 6A was falling apart, particularly in the second half. After the Jaguars wasted many of the final 20 minutes of the first half, they took it to Liberty early in the second, or easily swept aside the Lions' increasingly desperate attacks.
"They were taking their time and jogging here and lollygagging. They wasted more time in the first half. In the first half we pressed a bit and we're trying a little too hard," Pooler said. "At halftime one of the girls said seniors this could be their last game. It resonated a little too much and put our girls in a stress mode."
Near the 60 minute mark, the Lions fans, players and coaches bemoaned what they saw as a missed call on a clear Desert Ridge handball in the box.
With time running out, andother Jaguars player accidentally touched a ball bouncing blindly over her head with her hand and this one was called.
Senior striker Tatum Thoason stepped in for the penalty kick with 3:20 on the clock. She put the tying goal past senior keeper Hope Beudoin, who had been a rock all afternoon.
"We finally got a call. I understand you don't want to call penalty kicks in a game like this but when it's a blatant penalty kick, you've got to call it. I don't remember them being as physical in our backs last time. And the ref was letting them do it," Pooler said. "At that point we're tied up. I felt we would be ok. In overtime, we played more like we have all year."
It was if a dam burst. Liberty rediscovered its combination play once it was tied and simply overwhelmed Desert Ridge in the opening minutes of overtime.
Senior midfielder Katie Willoughby took a quick throw in and passed down the left flank to Thomason in the area. She quickly centered to senior foward Skylar Skelton, who served up charging senior midfielder Riley Weichbrodt.
Weichbrodt's first shot deflected off a defender but she scored on the rebound before Beudoin could pounce on it.
"It was awesome. Definitely a highlight of the season," Weichbrodt said. "I kinda hit a leg at first. I was like, 'Shoot, just pick a corner.' I relaxed and got a touch with not any power on it.'
Four minutes later Liberty put it away as Willoghby drove toward goal then laid off a sublime back pass to Thomason.
Liberty has the postseason jitters out of its system and will play #5 Pinnacle at home Wednesday night.
"It was definitely more of a mental challenge. We came out here kinda timid at first. They were very physical. The best part of our game was overtime," Weichbrodt said. "It's one of our best seasons and we're really senior heavy with nine seniors. The tying goal definitely was a pick me up. You could tell, everyone's head was high. First round is always nerve wracking so I think we'll be fine next round."
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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