PHOENIX β Catalina Foothillsβ girls soccer team came into Tuesdayβs state semifinal match against Scottsdale Notre Dame riding high.
The Falcons had won six a row coming into this matchup and were fresh off an upset win over No. 2 Surprise Willow Canyon in the quarterfinals.
But the magic just wasnβt there Tuesday, as the seventh-seeded Falcons fell 3-1 to No. 3 Notre Dame in the Division II contest at Phoenix Arcadia High School.
The match was tied 1-1 early in the second half, but two late goals by Notre Dame put it out of reach.
βWe knew they were a quality team,β Foothills coach Dave Lemon said. βTheyβre the defending state champs, they brought a lot of kids back, so we knew we had to play really well tonight and we made a couple of mistakes that put us in a bind and you canβt do that against a quality team like that.β
After a scoreless first half, Notre Dame scored in the 44th minute on a goal by Lindsay Shipley to go ahead 1-0. Foothills tied it up in the 54th minute when Olivia Lai scored on penalty kick, but the joy was short-lived as the Saints answered right back less than a minute later on a goal by Shipley to regain the lead.
βI thought maybe we tilted the table a little bit (with that goal), but they just came back at us so quick after that and it was on our heels,β Lemon said. βOnce they got that second goal their eyes lit up and I think they caught us a little down.β
Amanda Furtmann tacked one more goal on for Notre Dame in the 61st minute to take a two-goal lead and this time, the Falcons didnβt have a response. The defending champion Saints will face top-seeded Salpointe Catholic in the Division II state final match on Saturday.
Lemon said he was proud of his teamβs effort this season, despite coming up a little short of the ultimate goal. The Falcons ended the year with a record of 14-6-1.
βA couple of weeks ago we were No. 18 in the (rankings) and we werenβt even in the tournament,β Lemons said. βThey won four games to get us here. I couldnβt be more proud as a coach.β
