Vipers, Eagles qualify for state tourney first round
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Maurizio Ciriello-coached Morenci Wildcats finished the 2024 soccer season (2-9 seeding, minus 16.8697 rating) ranked No. 29 of 31 2A teams. It was the fourth varsity soccer season and the first as a 2A South Region member.
The Wildcats twice competed in the 3A Southeast Region in 2024 (6-7 seeding, minus 10.0542 rating) and 2023 (2-7-1, minus 13.8826) and as a 3A Independent in 2022 (3-6, minus 14.7959). Morenci ended ranked No. 38 of 51 (2024), No. 49 of 55 (2023), and No. 49 of 54 (2022).
Two current South Region members, champion Tucson San Miguel Catholic and runner-up Tucson Desert Christian, will be participating in the 2025 postseason as No. 6 (10-0-1, 6.5179) hosting No. 11 Phoenix NFL Yet (7-3-2, 1.7527) and as No. 15 (7-3-1, 0.0092) visiting No. 2 Glendale Trivium Prep (10-1, 14.3123), respectively, both with 6 p.m. starts.
2A State Tourney
The Top 16 of 31 teams make up the state tourney field, beginning with the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 11. There is no play-in round. Five teams are from the East Region (5-6), four from the Valley Region (4-7), three from the Central Regions (3-8), and two from both the West (2-5) and South (2-6) Regions are in the Top 16. The five region champions and the other 11 top-ranked teams will comprise the state tourney field. Region champions were 4-0-1 Gilbert Arete Prep for the East, 5-0 Gilbert Trivium Prep for the Valley, 7-0 Phoenix Country Day School for the Central, 4-0-1 Tucson San Miguel for the South, and 4-0 Glendale Prep for the West.
First-round upper bracket pairings include No. 1 Phoenix Country Day School (13-0 seeding) hosting No. 16 Wickenburg (7-4-1) at 3:45 p.m., No. 8 Gilbert Classical (9-3) hosting No. 9 Chandler Prep (7-4-1) at 6 p.m., No. 5 Arete Prep (8-2-1) hosting No. 12 Phoenix Veritas Prep (5-6) at 6 p.m., and No. 4 Glendale Prep (10-2) hosting No. 13 Phoenix Horizon Honors (6-4-2, 1.2613) at 6 p.m..
The lower bracket also has No. 3 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-2) hosting No. 14 Scottsdale Prep (7-5-2) at 3 p.m. and No. 7 Phoenix Christian (7-3-1) hosting No. 10 Gilbert San Tan Charter (6-4-1) at 6 p.m.
Quarterfinals have the Phoenix Country Day – Wickenburg winner versus the Gilbert Classical – Chandler Prep winner and the Arete Prep – Veritas Prep winner versus the Glendale Prep – Horizon Honors winner, both at the site of the higher seed with 2 p.m. starts on Saturday, Feb. 22.
The lower bracket quarterfinal pairings have the Saint John Paul II – Scottsdale Prep winner versus the San Miguel – NFL Yet winner and the Phoenix Christian – San Tan Charter winner versus the Trivium Prep – Desert Christian winner, both at the site of the higher seed with 2 p.m. starts on Feb. 22.
2A State Final Rankings
The final 2A state rankings as of Feb. 5 were Phoenix Country Day (13-0 seeding, 15.7272 rating) No. 1, Trivium Prep (10-1, 14.3123) No. 2, Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-2, 11.0269) No. 3, Glendale Prep (10-2, 9.7565) No. 4, Arete Prep (8-2-1, 8.7576) No. 5, San Miguel Catholic (10-0-1, 6.5179) No. 6, Phoenix Christian (7-3-1, 4.6095) No. 7, and Gilbert Classical (9-3, 3.5453) No. 8.
Chandler Prep (7-4-1, 3.0822) was No. 9, Gilbert San Tan Charter (6-4-1, 2.5971) No. 10, Phoenix NFL Yet (7-3-2, 1.7527) No. 11, Phoenix Veritas Prep (5-6, 1.5080) No. 12, Phoenix Horizon Honors (6-4-2, 1.2613) No. 13, Scottsdale Prep (7-5-2, 1.1490) No. 14, Tucson Desert Christian (7-3-1, 0.0092) No. 15, and Wickenburg (7-4-1, minus 0.4125) No. 16.
The other South Region member rankings were Santa Cruz (7-5, minus 4.3181) No. 19, Tombstone (5-6, minus 8.2389) No. 20, Morenci (2-9, minus 16.8697) No. 29, and Florence Florence American Leadership – Anthem South (0-12, minus 23.4392) No. 31.
2A South Region Final Standings
Final region standings as of Feb. 1 were San Miguel (10-0-1 seeding, 4-0-1 3A South Region) first, Desert Christian (7-3-1, 4-0-1) second, Eloy Santa Cruz (6-5, 3-2) third, Tombstone (5-6, 2-3) fourth, Morenci (2-9, 1-4) fifth, and ALA – Anthem South (0-12, 0-5) sixth.
To date in region contests, San Miguel Mercy Ruled Morenci (10-2, Jan. 9), shutout Santa Cruz (4-0, Jan. 15), shutout Tombstone (4-0, Jan. 21), Mercy-Rule ALA – Anthem South (10-0, Jan. 23), and tied with Desert Christian (1-1, Jan. 27); Desert Christian blanked ALA – Anthem South (6-0, Jan. 9), downed Morenci (7-2, Jan. 15), blanked Santa Cruz (4-0, Jan. 21), blanked Tombstone (5-0, Jan. 23), and tied with San Miguel (1-1, Jan. 27); Santa Cruz shutout ALA – Anthem South (4-0, Jan. 29) and Tombstone (1-0, Jan. 31); and Morenci defeated ALA – Anthem South (7-2, Jan. 27).
No. 6 San Miguel Vipers (10-0-1)
San Miguel (10-0-1 seeding, 4-0-1 2A South Region) averaged a score of 6-1 (69-6) or a 5-point margin per match. The Vipers had wins over Tombstone (8-0, Dec. 5), Tucson Desert Christian (7-2, Dec. 10), Globe (8-0, Dec. 14), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (7-0, Dec. 16), Coolidge (2-0, Dec. 18), Morenci (10-2, Jan. 9), Santa Cruz (4-0, Jan. 15), Tombstone (6-0, Jan. 21), ALA – Anthem South (10-0, Jan. 23), and Florence (6-1, Jan. 29). The tie was with Desert Christian (1-1 OT, Jan. 27).
The Vipers have a 30-member roster of 13 seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores, and five freshmen. The Vipers include seniors Andres Amparano (21), Cristian Arredondo (13/32), Marc Arredondo (19), Evan Benitez (31), Alejandro Garcia (9), Misael Garcia (11), Alexis Gutierrez (12), Juan Fernando Lozano (15), Benjamin Lopez (29), Jesus Ochoa Martinez (3), Albert Mendoza (16), Fernando Orona (1/26), Angel Pena (2); juniors Jared Arvizu Garcia (9), Oscar Garcia (30), Santiago Gutierrez (18), Sergio Martinez (24), Omar Talavera (17), Kevin Vazquez (7), and Miguel Vazquez (14); sophomores Landon Bonfiglio (8), Brandon Dominguez (4), Salvador Gallegos (20), Giovanni Martinez (24), and Angel Perez (5); and freshmen Diego Crisoza (28), Javier Fraijo Mungarro (22), Judas Redondo (6), Adrian Ruiz (23), and Jayden Tacho (27).
No. 15 Desert Christian Eagles (7-3-1)
Desert Christian (7-7-1 overall, 7-3-1 seeding, 1-0 2A South Region) averaged a score of 4-2 (43-23) per seeding match or a 2-point margin. The Al Robles-coached Eagles had wins over Eloy Santa Cruz (4-3, Dec. 2), Morenci (6-1, Dec. 5), Apache Junction (4-0, Dec. 13), Florence American Leadership – Anthem South (6-0, Jan. 9), Morenci (7-2, Jan. 15), Santa Cruz (4-0, Jan. 21), and Tombstone (5-0, Jan. 23) along with losses to Tucson San Miguel (2-7, Dec. 10), San Tan Valley San Tan Foothills (0-4, Dec. 16), and Phoenix Veritas Prep (4-5 OT, Dec. 18). The tie was with San Miguel (1-1 OT, Jan. 27).
In addition, the Eagles went 0-4 during the 4-day Tucson Palo Verde Magnet tourney, with losses to Palo Verde Magnet (0-8, Dec. 27), Rincon/University (1-7, Dec. 28), Desert View (1-4, Jan. 2), and Tanque Verde (0-4, Jan. 4). Desert Christian is averaging an overall score of 3-3 (45-46) per match or a tie.
The Eagles have a 19-member roster of five seniors, four juniors, five sophomores, and five freshmen. The team includes seniors Ethan Craig 19), Paul LaPoff (12), Mateo Munoz (22), Reed Olsen (18), and Carson Wilson (17); juniors Mario Contreras (21), Braydon Davis (15), Francisco Ojeda (20), and Roman Sanchez (7); sophomores Ethan Anaya (11), Jonathan Camacho (14), Aiden Jones (6), Connor McCafferty (16), and Patrick Wanes (10); and freshmen Nolan Crawford (5), James Harris (13), Kekaulike Ishikawa (23), Jael Perez-Soto (9), and Jordan Sexton (00/8).
Desert Christian competed in the 6-member 2A South Region with Eloy Santa Cruz, Florence American Leadership – Anthem South, Morenci, Tombstone, and Tucson San Miguel.
No. 29 Morenci Wildcats (2-9)
Morenci (2-9 overall, 2-9 seeding, 1-4 2A South Region) averaged a score per seeding match of 2-5 (24-58) or a 3-point deficit. The Maurizio Ciriello-coached Wildcats had wins over Globe (1-0, Jan. 13) and ALA – Anthem South (7-2, Jan. 27), as well as losses to Desert Christian (1-6, Dec. 5), Tombstone (1-4, Dec. 20), Globe (1-2, Jan. 6), San Miguel (2-10, Jan. 9), Desert Christian (2-7, Jan. 15), Santa Cruz, (4-6, Jan. 23), Thatcher (0-11, Jan. 25), Tombstone (4-6, Jan. 29), and Santa Cruz (1-4, Feb. 3).
Morenci’s offensive output was 24 goals, with senior midfielder/forward Armando Lopez Rivera scoring 13, senior midfielder Jossue Vaca Jr. and junior forward Lyndale Waterhouse four apiece, and seniors midfielder/forward Nolyn Adams and fullback Bryant Figueroa, and junior midfielder Jose Torres one each. The Wildcats also totaled 14 assists, with Vaca on four, Torres and freshman midfielder/forward Katerina Escalona on three apiece, and Figueroa, junior midfielder Samuel Kitcheyan, freshman midfielder Braxten Merrill, and Waterhouse on each. In addition, 66 shots on goal were recorded. Armando Rivera had 18, Vaca 11, Katerina Escalona 10, Kitcheyan and Waterhouse seven apiece, sophomore midfielder/forward Karol Escalona six, Figueroa four, Merrill two, and Adams one.
The Wildcats had a 22-member roster of four seniors, eight juniors, two sophomores, and eight freshmen. The Wildcats include seniors Nolyn Adams (3), Bryant Figueroa (8), Armando Lopez Rivera (11), and Jossue Vaca Jr. (10); juniors Aaron Esquivel (37), Emma Kerrigan (6), Samiel Kitcheyan (12), Summer Luster (13), Johnny Madrid (32/66), Manuel Medina (14/99), Jose Torres (20), and Lyndale Waterhouse (16); sophomores Karol Escalona (7) and Clayton Jacobs (40); and freshmen Emily Dominquez (9), Katerine Escalona (1), Christian Kudadiri (4), Braxton Merrill (2), Juan Ramirez (5), Aiden Nogales (19), Juaquin Ma (33), and Lohgan Szymanski (18).
Morenci competed in the 6-member 2A South Region with Eloy Santa Cruz, Florence American Leadership – Anthem South, Tombstone, Tucson Desert Christian, and Tucson San Miguel Catholic.
