Girls soccer matches to see this week

23 January 2012 One Comment Mark Heller

It’s the final week of the regular season as all final matches take place Thursday night. With the new division/section alignment, 9 automatic qualifying spots for the state tournament (top 3 in each section based on power points) and seven other at-large bids based on PP, it’s going to be a wild finish with many schools playing 2-3 matches this week, and a lot of really good teams will be left out to dry.

(All records are power point matches only as of Monday afternoon):

Perry vs. Mesquite (Monday); at Mountain Pointe (Thursday): A 3-1 loss to Gilbert (no shame in that) last Saturday puts Perry (6-4) in a precarious situation. Mesquite is out of playoff contention but the Wildcats are still tough (Perry won 1-0 in the first meeting), while the Pride (6-4) are hanging on by a thread in the playoff race and need to win out plus get some help. Perry coach Gary DeGrow thinks his team needs to win out, and he’s right. But how much help will they need?

Cactus Shadows at Notre Dame (Monday); vs. Notre Dame (Tuesday); vs. Boulder Creek (Thursday): Practically everyone would be on the bubble if they had to play the Falcons (8-1) schedule, and this week tells that story. So why is an 8-1 team on the bubble? They’re probably not, but have to play a 9-1 Notre Dame team twice and 8-1 Boulder Creek. If the Falcons lose all three – and it’s conceivable given what they’re facing – it could get interesting.

Chandler at Desert Vista (Tuesday); vs. Desert Vista (Thursday): Life gets no better for Chandler, which lost twice to Hamilton in three days last week and now has to play a team nearly as good (Desert Vista is 8-2) twice in three days this week. Add in Maryvale to that mix and the Wolves (5-5) are the only near-.500 team with a shot because of their schedule. A sweep might be necessary here given how many at-large schools in Section 1 and Section 3 are ahead of them in power points.

Basha vs. Gilbert (Tuesday); at Highland (Thursday): At 4-6, Basha would have to win twice this week (Gilbert is 7-2, Highland is 9-1) and get a ton of help, and even that might not be enough. Highland is a lock, and Gilbert is close to one, but despite being really good and being fourth in Section 2 while still a match or two behind most other teams, the Tigers would be wise to win at least one of its three against Phoenix North (6-3), Perry (6-3) or the Bears just to be safe.

Mountain Pointe at Corona del Sol (Tuesday); vs. Perry (Thursday): Despite a .500 record and a team many freely admit they wouldn’t want to see in this year’s tournament, Corona del Sol is pretty much out of the running for a playoff spot. Mountain Pointe, however, is firmly in limbo. The Pride’s 1-0 loss to Corona late last week hurts a lot, but the Pride get another chance, and then a good Perry team awaits while the Pride have no chance without a two-match sweep here. Even a sweep could require a little help, it’ll be too close to call.

Queen Creek at Williams Field (Wednesday): Q.C. (8-1) is in pretty good shape, but the Bulldogs should spend a lot of time watching results from Section 1, where it appears most of the at-large teams in Division II will emerge. The Bulldogs have two matches against lowly Combs (1-10) surrounding this game, but a win here clinches a Bulldogs berth. Of course, Williams Field (6-3 in Div. III) won 5-4 in the first meeting between these schools last week and the Black Hawks are very much in the thick of things.

Chaparral at Xavier (Thursday): The Gators are locked into the tournament but Chaparral, despite its standing (7-4 and No. 5 in Section 3) isn’t quite in yet. A win against Desert Mountain on Tuesday might clinch it for the Firebirds, which lost 1-0 to Xavier last week, but it appears as though two losses and a whole lot of extraneous factors would keep Chaparral out of the tournament.