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Soccer - High School Soccer
Written by Molly Kissler   
Friday, February 12 2010 08:42

Alex Hastings scored the winning penalty kick for Flagstaff Thursday night to beat Arcadia in the semifinals of the 4A Division II girls state soccer tournament at Chaparral High School.

(More photos, click here!)

The game was scoreless until then, and the play was even and physical. Arcadia striker Tianna Stewart narrowly missed a header off a cross from Karla Varela in the last minutes of the second half of overtime, but they still couldn’t put one away.

Arcadia won their quarterfinal game against the Verrado Vipers, which also went into penalty kicks.

The Titans started the year strong with a perfect record until late in the season when they were beaten by Seton Catholic 2-1. The Titans finished their regular season 14-2.

Flagstaff won the state tournament in 2007 and 2008, and finished their regular season with a record of 7-2.

The Eagles will face last year’s state runner-up, the Mingus Marauders, in the final.

Mingus beat the Coconino Panthers 4-1 in the other semifinal, also at Chaparral.

Natalie Rivera scored the first goal for Mingus at the nine-minute mark when she received a through ball from Torey Braly, took a big touch to beat the last two defenders and passed the ball on the ground into the left corner of the net.

Four minutes later, Megan Wright responded for Coconino with a shot from well outside the box which went just over the Mingus’ goalie’s outstretched arm.

Another four minutes later, Braly scored a goal for herself with a turn that beat two defenders at the top of the box and an easy pass into the left corner of the goal.

Braly and Rivera went on to combine for Mingus’s third goal, a cross from the right by Braly which Rivera volleyed in.

“Those two are incredibly dangerous together,” Mingus head coach Buddy Rhodes said about Rivera and Braly. “They played the defense just like they should have.”

In the last three minutes of the half, Braly scored Mingus’s fourth and final goal when she stripped a Coconino defender of the ball, charged up the middle of the box and once again placed her shot into the left corner of the goal.

“We played a great first half of the first half,” Rhodes said. “We came out hungry, let off a bit, and then finished strong. I am very happy with the way the girls played.”

 
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