Hamilton, Chaparral advance to 6A final

February 22, 2020 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Hamilton players rush to midfield to celebrate their 1-0 win over Highland in the 6A semis at Campo Verde High. (AzPreps365 photo)

There's scoring a late goal. And then there's scoring a late goal. Hamilton's and Chaparral's girls soccer teams were the ones with the only tallies Saturday on a wet 6A semifinal afternoon at Campo Verde High School.

#3 Hamilton's goal occurred in the 53rd minute in its 1-0 triumph over #2 Highland while #1 Chaparral more succinctly defined late goal connecting on its game-winner with 10 seconds to play in a 1-0 victory over #4 Desert Vista. Hamilton makes its first visit to a final since 2016 after bowing out the last two years with semifinal losses.

Hamilton and Chaparral collide on Wednesday (Feb, 26) for the 6A championship at 5 p.m. at Campo Verde. Hamilton brings a 17-3-3 mark to the final while Chaparral, the defending 6A champ and three-time champ overall with titles in 5A in 2017 and 2018, shoots for a fourth in succession.

HAMILTON 1, HIGHLAND 0: In the Huskies (17-3-3) victory over the Hawks i(15-6-1) it took a set piece to decide the outcome. Using the strong leg often of senior Ariana Fresquez on set pieces, Fresquez let fly with a free kick from about 30 yards out near the the boundary. The kick was on target, but Highland keeper Ashlyn Lee knocked it down. Several Huskies at the goal mouth jostled for a follow and it ended with senior Gabby Gruenewald tapping it in.

"(Ariana) can bring it for us in the moment, along with everything else she does for us" Hamilton coach Eddie Hertenberg said. "Our defense has played great all year, and most of the time we just need one."

Hamilton's shutout was its 17th of the season. The Huskies are riding a six-game winning streak and have allowed only seven goals in 22 matches and have yet to be scored on in three playoff games. Chaparral will present the ultimate challenge with its high-powered, varied attack.

CHAPARRAL 1, DESERT VISTA 0: The Firebirds (20-1-3) became more aggressive on the attack in the second half, but as time wound down it appeared overtime with the Thunder (13-4-3) was inevitable. A picturesque goal by Chloe Steinhilber off an assist from Madison Liebman with 10 clicks left proved otherwise.

Steinhilber took the pass from Liebman and with a step on the defender beat Desert Vista keeper Cammie Bych with a shot to the farpost that a sprawling Bych couldn't get a hand on.

"I didn't feel like we played our game very well the first half," Chaparral coach Robyn Carlson said. "We didn't have a lot of help with some calls, but that can happen. We became relentless in the second half, and played more like our game. These girls are hungry and believe in each other. They are very much together as a team."

Chaparral stretched its winning streak to 10 games. It's only loss this season is to Hamilton in the Arizona Soccer Showcase in late December.  The teams tied, 1-1, in power-ranking game earlier in December.