Arizona soccer championships: Xavier overcomes adversity for title

The Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) girls soccer team was barely held together by the end of the season.

But, boy, what as season it was.

The No. 4 Gators won their eighth state championship and third in five years including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, but this one might have been the most unlikely because of everything that led up to Saturday's 1-0 win over No. 2 Desert Vista (Phoenix) at Campo Verde High.

"That's the story of the season," Xavier coach Barb Chura said. "At one point we had eight starters out. Through everything, through sickness, injuries, transfer, just throughout the whole year. It started way back in December. It seems like an onslaught. But we just kept telling the girls that the next girl is going to have to step up, the next girl is going to do it."

Against Desert Vista Michaela Dooley was a perfect example of what the Gators were about. Her right knee was taped up, her gait had a bit of hitch to it, but when the game was happening she was everywhere. She was consistently beating the Thunder defense, considered one of the best in the state, in one-on-one plays. Dooley showed tremendous footwork, ball skills and burst of speed.

She never scored in this one but she set the tone.

"Our team has been through a lot this year," said Dooley, who had 26 goals on the season. "We had torn ligaments, broken bones and to come back and have all these girls around us play and pull through this game, it's amazing."

Kellie Peay made sure everything Xavier endured paid off with a title when she got her head on a corner kick from Alexis Allard with less than 10 minutes left in regulation for the game winner.

Division I boys
Brophy College Prep (Phoenix) 2, Desert Vista (Phoenix) 0

The real Brophy boys soccer team didn't show up until the second half and that's all the Broncos needed to win their second title in three seasons.

The match was scoreless after the first half, when the Broncos seemed to always be in possession of the ball, and that was without four starters - including the All-State forward Riggs Lennon - for the first half of the match for what he called "discipline" issues stemming from late in the team's semifinal match against Tolleson.

At full strength, the Broncos scored less than six minutes into the second half on a Ryan Grotjohn rebound goal and then Lennon capped it with another ricochet goal to give Brophy its second title in three seasons after finishing as runner-up last season.

"I told the guys these are the 11 on the field and we all know what we have to do," Brophy defender Clarence Clark said while clutching the championship trophy. "Whether with starters or backups, this is our 11."

Boys
Division II
Salpointe Catholic (Tucson) 2, Apollo (Glendale) 0

Division III
Cortez (Phoenix) 4, Coronado (Scottsdale) 0

Girls
Division II
Catalina Foothills (Tucson) 3, Apollo (Glendale) 0

Division III
Campo Verde (Gilbert) 1, Mingus (Cottonwood) 0

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothills News staff writer, is a 18-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.