Salpointe Catholic’s dream inaugural season in Division I will continue for at least one more game.
Senior attackman Cameron Wilhite registered a game-high six points on three goals and three assists to lead the second-seeded Lancers to a 13-8 victory over seventh-seeded Saguaro in an Arizona Youth Lacrosse League Division I quarterfinal Tuesday night.
With the victory, Salpointe Catholic (13-2) became the first team from Tucson to ever advance to the Division I semifinals. The Lancers will next face third-seeded Chandler.
In the regular season, the Wolves beat Salpointe Catholic, 7-6, on March 23. In both Division I semifinal match-ups, the lower seed beat the higher seed during the regular season.
“We want to get after it and see if we can avenge our loss,” Salpointe Catholic head coach Kevin Krieger said.
On Tuesday, senior attackman Ben Neilson added four points on two goals and two assists, senior long-stick middie Ryan Baker scored three goals and senior middie Dominic Cozzetti scored twice. Junior middie Kyle Bakewell had a goal and an assist to help the Lancers extend their winning streak to nine games.
In defeat, Clay Perry and Rockne Repp each had three points on two goals and an assist, and Thomas Slezak and Justin Straker both finished with two points on a goal and an assist for Saguaro, which finished the season 8-7.
“They were a tough team,” Saguaro head coach Brett Neal said. “They outworked and out-hustled us for everything. They’re going to be a very, very tough team in the playoffs if they play every game like they did tonight.”
Salpointe Catholic led 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, 6-3 at halftime and 10-6 at the end of the third. The Lancers were never seriously threatened during the final 12 minutes.
“We executed extremely well,” Krieger said. “Our face-off guys only lost four draws, and that was a key.”
CHANDLER 4, DESERT VISTA 3
Junior middie Brandon Moranz scored his only goal on a man-up situation with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to punch the third-seeded Wolves’ ticket into the state semifinals.
Chandler led 3-0 at halftime before sixth-seeded Desert Vista fought back and nearly sent the game into overtime.
Sophomore attackman Sean LaFlam scored a game-high two goals, and Moranz and senior middie Andrew Muscara each had a goal for Chandler (12-3), which bounced back from its upset loss to Hamilton in the final game of the regular season.
Desert Vista, which beat Chandler in double-overtime during the regular season, finished the year 8-7. Junior middie Ryan Miller had a goal and an assist to lead the Thunder offense.
Chandler led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter, 3-0 at halftime and 3-2 at the end of the third quarter. Junior attackman Chad Hyslop tied it, 3-3, when he scored off a feed from Miller with 7:49 to play in regulation.
But just before the game could go to overtime, Moranz came through with the go-ahead strike.
“Tonight was more about attitude than anything,” Chandler head coach Dave Henning said. “When we came up short in execution, we always bailed ourselves out with emotion.”