Seton Catholic is shorthanded, but it didn’t seem like it Thursday night in a road play-in girls soccer tournament win against Washington High.

If it wasn’t for the efforts of Washington goalkeeper Esther Ronces, Seton Catholic could have easily scored more than the four goals it tallied in its shutout victory. In the past two weeks, Seton Catholic lost five starters to injury, including one of its best players, sophomore Reese Mendenhall (stress fracture).

But two of those starters came back recently, a big boost for a club that lacks depth.

Plus, Seton Catholic still has multiple scoring options.

“We are dynamic up top,” third-year coach Grant Wagner said.

Four different players, Milani Kay Alo, Axenia Alo (22 goals), Audry Hutchison and Ninfita Milyard, scored for 4A Seton Catholic (14-6-1), the No. 17 seed, in a variety of ways against No. 16 Washington. Milyard is a defender and launched one in from about 35 yards.

Play-in upsets

Seton Catholic wasn’t the only team that defeated a higher seeded team Thursday.

In the 4A Conference play-in bracket for girls, No. 22 Palo Verde, No. 19 Apache Junction and No. 23 Gila Ridge also pulled off upsets.

In the 5A girls play-in bracket, No. 19 Shadow Ridge was the only lower seeded team to win Thursday. In 6A girls, No. 21 Corona del Sol and No. 23 Mountain Pointe kept their seasons alive after road victories.

For the boys, in 4A, No. 21 Shadow Mountain and No. 19 Saguaro were the only teams that pulled off road wins and so did No. 19 Tolleson and No. 18 Hamilton in the 6A.

Feely working NFL, HS soccer sidelines

Former NFL kicker Jay Feely works the sidelines during CBS’ football broadcasts, but from Monday-Friday he’s on the sidelines of Arizona’s high school soccer fields.

Feely covered the Jacksonville-New England Patriots game as a sideline reporter, and on Tuesday he’ll don his coaching hat for Gilbert Christian's girls soccer team in the first round of the 3A Conference playoffs.

Gilbert Christian reached the state semifinals last year in Feely’s first season. Feely’s team had a shot at likely winning a section title Thursday but lost 3-2 to Scottsdale Prep in the final regular season game for each team.

Bracket show

The annual azpreps365 state soccer bracket show will air Friday at 2 p.m.

Scheduled to be interviewed are Tempe High’s Steve Cihomsky and Senko Redzic of Veritas Prep.