The Salpointe Catholic High girls soccer team struggled the first 15 minutes against Gilbert Higley in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs Saturday, but finally found its footing when freshman Sienna Gonzalez came off the bench and got the first goal for the Lancers.
Coach Kelly Pierce said she believed her team may have overthought the game too much. After all, this was this was an afternoon weekend game, and the last contest on their home field for the seven seniors on the team.
And junior forward Kalista Kakou was being shadowed and double-teamed the whole time.
So Gonzalez made her way to the coaches’ side of the bench, listened to their commentary and recommendations, and entered the game. About five minutes later, the freshman, who’s been one of the team’s leading goal scorers, delivered the Lancers’ first goal.
“She’s great. She stepped in right away with a lot of energy,” Pierce said. “We always tell them to come off the bench with a purpose and be a fire-starter.”
The No. 2-seeded Lancers, who finished their regular season with an 11-0-1 record, will face No. 6 Prescott in the semifinal round at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Williams Field High School in Gilbert.
Gonzalez said, because she’s a freshman, she wanted to go out and prove that she could keep up with the older girls, who have all been to the state tournament before with Salpointe.
For senior co-captain Lauren Bollinger, who is on her fourth consecutive trip into the state playoffs, the freshman’s attitude and performance was inspiring.
“Coming in as a freshman and just being that firepower, it made all of us kind of take a step back and say ‘OK, if she’s going to work that hard for us, then we need to work hard for her,’” Bollinger said. “So she came in and she just lit a fire.”
And that’s been the mentality all year for the reigning state champions.
The Lancers, who made it to the second round of the playoffs three years ago and to the championship game two years ago before winning it all last year, focus on “we,” not “me” Pierce said.
After Gonzalez lit a fire in the Lancers, Salpointe nailed a second goal, this time by Isabella Almazan, before the end of the first half.
In the second, Gonzalez started the scoring again with a second goal, followed by three more combined goals by Kakou (two) and Aryanna Sanchez.
“I think, for the most part, it was just another game,” Bollinger saide. “Yeah, it was a big game, but we just came into it playing how we always play. It was a little bit rough in the beginning, but I think that, as we settled down and played our game, we opened the floodgates.”
Bollinger said she believes the 6-0 win speaks volumes for the team’s character, especially considering their rough start.
“We talked about it a lot yesterday before the game and we said this is about us as a team,” Bollinger said.
“It’s not about any one person individually; it’s not about who scores; it’s not about the defenders; it’s not about the midfielders. It’s about the team collectively.”
Now, the Lancers are one game away from returning to the championship game for a third consecutive year.
“I want to win,” Gonzalez said. “I want to win state and I want to go all the way with these girls.”
No. 4-seeded Catalina Foothills faces No. 1 Flagstaff in the first semifinal game Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Williams Field.
