Like water coming from a reservoir nearly full of spring rain, blue-clad Xavier Prep soccer players spilled onto Petznick Field to celebrate their latest conquest.
It was not
so much that they defeated visiting Tucson High, it was how they did it in a 6A Conference state tournament first-round
match on Wednesday night (March 10).
Fifth-seeded
Xavier led No. 12 Tucson just 1-0 at halftime, then showered the Badgers with
five more goals in the second half for a decisive 6-0 victory.
Xavier
(7-2-1) now moves on to a quarterfinal match on Saturday (March 13) at No. 4
Gilbert Highland (10-2), which advanced by defeating No. 13 Mesa Mountain View
4-0. The quarterfinal begins at 2 p.m.
Sophomore
Eva Allen gave the Gators the initial lead with her team-leading eighth goal of
the season.
Xavier coach
Barb Chura would have preferred a more comfortable lead, but was pleased that
her players were able to turn up the intensity in the second half.
“If you let
the other team keep hanging around and have only a one-goal lead, something
could happen (to tie the match). Tucson is aggressive and we knew that, so we
did not want to allow them to stay in it,’’ Chura said. “When we got up 3, we
knew we were in a good position.’’
Xavier made
it 2-0 with 31:13 left in the second half on junior Ansley Burns’ first goal of
the season, and about two minutes later, the lead went to 3-0. Allen passed the
ball from right to left near the front of the goal, where sophomore Bella
Leonard scored as the result of a “bicycle kick,’’ where the player more or
less assumes a position of riding a bicycle while airborne and can send the
ball back behind them.
The Gators’
last three goals were scored by freshman Talia Coury, senior Lizzie Woudenberg
and senior Emmie Pauslon, the latter coming with just two seconds left.
It was a
particularly noteworthy achievement for Paulson, a co-captain (with goalkeeper
Jaden Campbell) whose job as a defender normally is to keep opponents from
scoring, not scoring herself. This was her first goal of the season.
Paulson
usually plays most of the time in the second half, when defense can be more of
a priority. In this case, most of those on the field at the close of the game
were reserves and the starters made up the group that ran onto the field to
congratulate them, kind of a role reversal.
“That
epitomizes what it means to be a team, everyone supporting one another,’’ Chura
said.
Chura added
that Paulson and Burns have played other positions on other teams (club).
Paulson has been a forward and Burns, a midfielder, also has spent time up
front.
Of Paulson’s
goal, Chura said, “I guess that was Emmie’s “forwardness’ coming out.’’
Campbell and
senior Ella Eberhardt combined for the shutout, the team’s seventh of the
season.
Note
Petznick
Field had a fresh look after Facilities Manager Raul Vega “vacuumed’’ the
surface and washed most of the remaining dust away. Petznick also is used for
the spring sports of softball and lacrosse.
Great job,
Raul !!
Saturday’s 6A quarterfinals
All matches,
2 p.m.
(Seedings in
parentheses)
Mesa Red
Mountain (8) at Gilbert Perry (1)
Xavier Prep (5) at Gilbert Highland (4)
Peoria
Liberty (11) at Scottsdale Chaparral (3)
Phoenix
Sandra Day O’Connor (10) at Phoenix Pinnacle (2)
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