Gator soccer hosts Cibola in "play-in'' game

The stage has been set, and Xavier Prep is the No. 11 team in 6A Conference soccer power points and will compete in a “play-in’’ game on Thursday night (Feb. 13) to determine which team will advance to the first round of the state tournament on Saturday (Feb. 15).

Xavier, at 6-8-1, will host Thursday’s game at Petznick Field against No. 22 Yuma Cibola (6-6-3).

The winner will face a road game against a higher seed on Saturday. The top eight seeds avoid the play-in.

Though its record might not indicate so, Xavier has been playing some of its most competitive soccer of the season recently, falling just short in double-overtime losses against highly regarded Gilbert Perry and Chandler Hamilton.

6A Conference play-in schedule

All games, Thursday at 6 p.m.

(Seedings in parentheses)

Glendale Mountain Ridge (24) at Mesa Desert Ridge (9), Tucson High (17) at Tempe Corona del Sol (16), Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor (18) at Anthem Boulder Creek (15), Avondale La Joya (21) at Peoria Liberty (12), Yuma Cibola (22) at Xavier Prep (11), Mesa Mountain View (20) at Phoenix Mountain Pointe (13), Chandler High (19) at Surprise Shadow Ridge (14), Mesa Dobson (23) at Queen Creek (10).