For the five seniors on Sahuarita’s girls soccer team, Wednesday will mark a first.
Ninth-seeded Sahuarita (18-3-2) will travel to No. 8 Sabino (10-5-2) for the first-round state playoff game at 6 p.m. It’ll be the first postseason game for a group of players that have grown alongside the program, and the Mustangs’ first playoff game since 2015. They came in two spots below the playoff cutoff a year ago. Coach Roberto Franzone said his team missed the postseason by one goal.
“I think we have a lot more confidence in ourselves this year,” junior Alexia Irigoyen said. “We really wanted it last year, so I think we have that motivation. I think we can go really far.”
This season, Sahuarita beat Surprise Paradise Honors 7-0 in play-in game to earn a spot in final 16 of the Class 3A bracket. The tournament includes three local teams — Sabino, Sahuarita and 12th-seeded Pusch Ridge Christian. Sahuarita’s boys team is the only local squad to make the 3A boys tournament.
“It means a lot for them, I’m sure, and for me,” Franzone said about qualifying.
Franzone said the team’s success probably derives from their chemistry. A lot of them grew up playing club ball together.
Senior Lacaya Harris offered another reason: This season marks the first time in four years that the team didn’t have a new coach.
“It definitely helped a lot,” Harris said.
It also helped that the team didn’t see a major overhaul during the offseason. Sahuarita only graduated one player, leaving a core group of upperclassmen to lead the team.
“There weren’t a whole lot of new components, so we were able to click better,” Harris said.
Either way, Sahuarita has improved from the last few years and is ready to enter the state title race.
Wednesday’s match marks the fourth time Sahuarita and Sabino have played this season. The Mustangs beat the Sabercats twice during the Amphi Panther Soccer Tournament in November. Sabino beat Sahuarita in penalty kicks during the Palo Verde Invitational. A week later, the regular-season match between Sahuarita and Sabino ended in a tie.
Franzone said his team will have to step up its physicality.
“Sabino is a very physical team; sometimes we’re not,” Franzone said. “But I want these girls here to play smart. Sometimes you want to beat people at a different game, rather than their own.”
The winner of Wednesday’s game will go up against the winner of the No. 1 Yuma Catholic-No. 16 Phoenix Country Day match on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a tough game, for sure, but I think we can do it,” senior Litycia Espinoza said. “We just have to keep our minds on it. We’ve been doing really good lately.”
