Liam Archer is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Master's student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day School for AZPreps365.com

PARADISE VALLEY – The No. 3 Phoenix Country Day boys soccer team completed a rout of No. 14 Yuma Catholic to advance to the quarterfinals of the 3A state tournament on Tuesday afternoon. The 9-1 victory for the Eagles, avenging their 2020 playoff loss to the Shamrocks, was completed in just 60 minutes due to the AIA’s mercy rule.

“This one had a little bit of a special feel to it,” Eagle coach Andy Rodin said.

Rodin was referring to the loss that bounced the Eagles from the playoffs two years ago, when Yuma Catholic tied the game up in the late minutes, ultimately winning in overtime 4-2.

When Phoenix Country Day (11-0-1) learned that it would play Yuma Catholic (6-5-2) in the first round of this season’s playoffs, the team was locked in.

“We were buzzing,” senior captain Speed Gregory said. 

Gregory was a member of that team that got bounced back in 2020. So was co-captain and fellow senior Ely Brayboy.

“Everyone was texting in our group chat, ‘We got Yuma Cahtolic again,’ Brayboy said. “We were ready for a rematch.”

The Eagles left little doubt on Tuesday. “We didn’t want to take them lightly or look past them,” Brayboy said. “We wanted to make sure we took care of business.”

Rodin didn’t need to say much to motivate the team leading up to the match. The players knew what this particular matchup meant.

“Here we are,” Rodin said in the pregame huddle, “right where we wanted to be.”

It didn’t take long for Phoenix Country Day to settle in. In fact, it took just over a minute, when freshman Jake Gregory finished a low ball in the box for the first of his three goals on the afternoon. 

The goals kept coming for the Eagles as the older Gregory brother, Speed, would complete a hat trick of his own. Two of the remaining goals came at the foot of Brayboy, and the final from midfielder Jonah Kaplan, who also finished with two assists.

“I liked our commitment to a relentless style of play from the get go,” Rodin said. “There was no hesitation, no feeling out period.”

All nine goals for Phoenix Country Day came in the opening 40 minutes, including a stretch when the Eagles had three goals in three minutes of play. In the first half alone, Phoenix Country Day registered 17 total shots, 11 of them on goal. That is an 82 percent conversion rate.

“We were pretty fired up from the get go,” Gregory said, “we went out, did our thing, and we’re on to the next round.”

The Eagles over the four games leading up to the playoffs were outscoring opponents, 35-3, which is an average of 8.75 goals per game. In the entire regular season, they averaged 8.5 goals per game.

“They’re rolling everytime they come out there,” Rodin said.

As displayed by their performance on the field, the Eagles are not shy about their ceiling as a team this season.

“We feel like we can get the whole thing,” Rodin said. “There’s a lot of competition in the way, but we started the season with the belief that we can do it.”

The players have bought into that goal.

“We want to win a ring, win a state championship, nothing else,” Gregory said.

Their plan to achieve that goal is simple.

“Win three more games.”

No. 3 Phoenix Country Day (11-0-1) will play No. 11 BASIS Phoenix (9-3-1) on Saturday. The two teams last met Jan. 29 when Phoenix Country Day won 5-1.