Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Safford reserves bundle up to keep warm during a quarterfinal home match with Gilbert Classical. The No. 2 Bulldogs blanked the No. 7 Knights 2-0 on Feb. 11. Safford advanced to the semifinals against No. 3 Gilbert Christian at Mesa Westwood on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Thatcher boys face No. 5 Northwest Christian on Tuesday
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MESA – Then there were four left, from 49 to 24, 24 to 16, 16 to eight, and now eight to four. The four semifinalists include three of the higher-ranked teams. Top-ranked Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin takes on No. 5 Phoenix Veritas Prep at 4:30 p.m. and No. 2 Safford faces No. 3 Gilbert Christian at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The matches are on Mesa Westwood’s Brimhall Field, 945 W. Rio Salado Parkway.
Benjamin Franklin Chargers
The John Greksa-coached 6-0 East Region champion Chargers (12-0 seeding, 20.0153 rating) eliminated No. 8 Phoenix Country Day School 4-0 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 11 and No. 16 Scottsdale Christian 8-0 in the first round on Feb. 8
Benjamin Franklin (19-2 overall) outscored regular-season opponents 78-12, with wins of 6-0 over Fountain Hills (Nov. 30), 4-1 over Veritas Prep (Dec. 7), 4-2 over Scottsdale Christian (Dec. 14), 4-3 over Scottsdale Christian (Dec. 16), 4-0 over Queen Creek American Leadership (Dec. 28), 1-0 over Cave Creek Cactus Shadows (Dec. 29), 3-0 over Bullhead City Mohave (Dec. 30), 8-0 over Queen Creek American Leadership Ironwood (Jan. 3), 4-2 over Gilbert Christian (Jan. 5), 4-0 over Coolidge (Jan. 11), 7-0 over Chandler Prep (Jan. 17), 8-0 over Globe (Jan. 19), 8-0 over Queen Creek San Tan Foothills (Jan. 23), 4-1 over Phoenix Country Day (Jan. 25), and 9-0 over Florence (Jan. 31).
The losses are 0-2 to Gilbert American Leadership – Gilbert North (Dec. 9) and 0-1 to Chandler (Dec. 28).
Benjamin Franklin has three seniors, one junior, 11 sophomores, and seven freshmen on its roster. The team includes seniors Megan Holt, Emma Madrigal, and Ava Miller; junior Jacqueline Cota; sophomores Madeline Earl, Madeline Falls, Rachel Greksa, Payton Immke, Lucy Jones, Delin Peterson, Jaspyr Rocha, Karalee Sanders, Madison Sigourney, Danica Whipple, and Chloe Wright; and freshmen Izzy Lewis, Reina Ley, Katie Moore, Abigail Papa, Grace Seever, Katelynn Skinner, and Savannah Sperry.
Veritas Prep Falcons
The Kristi Seltzer-coached 7-0 Metro Region champion Falcons (9-2, 12.0946) reached the semifinals with wins of 6-1 over No. 4 Glendale Prep (11-0, 13.9439) in the quarterfinals and 2-0 over No. 12 Queen Creek Crimson (9-1, 6.6442) in the first round.
Veritas Prep (11-2) outscored regular-season opponents 49-11, with wins of 3-0 over Northwest Christian (Dec. 5), 2-0 over Glendale Trivium Prep (Dec. 14), 8-0 over Phoenix Horizon Honors (Dec. 20), 8-0 over Tempe Prep (Jan. 11), 6-0 over Chandler Valley Christian (Jan. 17), 7-0 over Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep (Jan. 19), 1-0 in overtime over Chandler Prep (Jan. 23), 3-2 over Gilbert Classical (Jan. 30), and 9-3 over Gilbert Arete Prep (Jan. 31).
The losses were 1-4 to Benjamin Franklin (Dec. 7) and 1-2 to Gilbert Christian (Jan. 30).
Veritas Prep has six seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman on its roster. The team includes seniors Analie Coner, Rory Klocke, Grace Liao, Luci Marmol, Suzannah Qualye, and Kateri Tawney; juniors Alyssa Jenkins, Calyn Kinerk, Maddie Lucas, and Maddie Mitchell; sophomores Sophie Palmquist and McKenna Swonger; and freshman Regan Rassas.
Safford Bulldogs
The E.J. Romero-coached 4-0 Southeast Region champion Bulldogs (13-0, 16.5018) sent home No. 7 Gilbert Classical (12-1-1, 9.2184) 2-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 18 Coolidge (6-5, 0.7364) 5-1 in the first round.
Safford (15-1) outscored regular-season opponents 78-6, with wins of 8-0 over Tanque Verde (Dec. 6), 6-1 over Coolidge (Dec. 13), 8-0 over Empire (Jan. 3), 8-0 over Tucson Mica Mountain (Jan. 5), 4-0 over Tucson Pueblo (Jan. 11), 7-0 over Florence (Jan. 19), 3-1 over Pusch Ridge (Jan. 20), 9-1 over Tucson Catalina (Jan. 21), 8-0 over Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (Jan. 23), 1-0 over Thatcher (Jan. 24), 8-0 over Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (Jan. 25), 1-0 over Tucson Sabino (Jan. 27), and 7-1 over Empire (Jan. 31).
A 2-2 tie resulted with Gilbert Christian during the Ben Franklin Winter Classic on Dec. 10.
Safford has six seniors, five juniors, six sophomores, and nine freshmen on its roster. The team includes seniors Elysia Barringer, Savanna Clonts, Karyme Grijalva, Jaylen Jurado, Olivia Madrid, and Sophia Romero; juniors Emilee Brown, Samantha Foote, Aminee Johnson, Lydia Marin, and Daisha Price; sophomores Breanna Arbizo, Giselle Garrabo, Isabella Gutierrez, Ellie Marin, Emma Motes, and Sophia Tellez; and freshmen Trinity Dominguez, Hailey Foote, Jerzi Hawkins, Rhylie Klajda, Tashoney Kniffin, Reyka Lester, Luz Mendoza, Chloie Peters, and Bianca Quintero.
Gilbert Christian Knights
The Hector Orellana-coached 5-1 East Region runner-up Knights (11-1, 14.9807) ousted No. 6 Tucson Sabino (9-3, 10.6058) 1-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 14 Buckeye Odyssey Institute (9-4, 1.5498) 4-0 in the first round.
Gilbert Christian (15-1-1) outscored regular-season opponents 77-18, with wins of 8-1 over Phoenix Bourgade Catholic (Nov. 28), 7-4 over Scottsdale Christian (Dec. 6), 5-2 over Gilbert Mesquite (Dec. 9), 3-2 over Yuma Catholic (Dec. 9), 4-1 over Northwest Christian (Dec. 12), 11-1 over Globe (Jan. 3), 8-0 over Chandler Prep (Jan. 7), 10-0 over Coolidge (Jan. 9), 4-0 over Florence (Jan. 11), 3-0 over Pusch Ridge (Jan. 13), 8-0 over San Tan Foothills (Jan. 17), 8-0 over American Leadership – Ironwood (Jan. 25), and 2-1 over Veritas Prep (Jan. 30).
The lone loss was 2-4 to Benjamin Franklin (Jan. 5) and lone tie was 2-2 with Safford (Dec. 10).
First-round exits were made by No. 9 Phoenix Northwest Christian (9-3, 7.8188), 1-0 to Phoenix Country Day; No. 13 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (8-4, 4.8941), 1-0 to Glendale Prep; No. 11 Thatcher (7-3, 6.8952), 2-1 to Sabino; and No. 10 Scottsdale Prep (11-2, 7.7218), 2-1 in overtime to Gilbert Classical.
The 16 state tourney participants numbered four from the Central Region; three from the East Region; two apiece from the Metro, South, and Southeast Regions; one each from the Northwest and Southwest Regions; and one independent.
Safford – 2, Gilbert Classical – 0
Freshman Chloe Peters broke the scoreless deadlock with the initial goal of the match in the 14th minute. It would be all the Bulldogs needed as the defense did its job, preventing any opponent from scoring.
Coach Romero cautioned the Bulldogs of the wind conditions during halftime, advising them to keep passes on the ground.
Class of 2026 team member Luz Mendoza added a second goal in the 48th minute.
Although the entire roster did not receive playing time, all contributed to the advancement through the preparation during practice sessions.
3A State Girls Play-in Round
Two upper seeds were upset and six lower seeds were eliminated during the play-in round. The upsets were No. 20 Scottsdale Christian 9-3 over No. 13 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (8-1 seeding, 5.6565 rating) and No. 22 Chandler Prep 3-0 over No. 11 Thatcher (7-3, 6.8952).
Lower seeds eliminated were No. 24 Wickenburg (6-3, minus 0.4686) 5-0 by No. 9 Northwest Christian, No. 23 Yuma Catholic (9-4, minus 0.4090) 6-1 by No. 10 Scottsdale Prep, No. 21 Rancho Solano Prep (5-4-1, minus 0.1268) 3-0 by No. 12 Crimson, No. 19 Tucson Empire (7-5, 0.2485) 3-0 by No. 14 Pusch Ridge, No. 18 Valley Christian (5-5-1, 0.5117) 3-2 in penalty kicks by No. 15 Odyssey Institute, and No. 17 Horizon Honors (5-7-1, 0.5553) 3-2 by No. 16 Coolidge.
3A Boys State Tourney
In the boys semifinals, both on the Phoenix Central campus at 4525 N. Central Ave., No. 9 Thatcher takes on No. 5 Phoenix Northwest Christian at 4:30 p.m. and No. 2 Phoenix Country Day School faces No. 3 Gilbert Christian at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Thatcher (10-1 seeding, 6.6939 rating) reached the semifinals with wins of 4-3 over No. 1 Buckeye Odyssey Institute (12-0, 18.4473) in the quarterfinals on Feb. 11 and 4-1 over No. 8 Gilbert Classical (11-1, 8.1143) in the first round on Feb. 7.
Northwest Christian (9-3, 10.2811) sent home No. 4 Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (9-2, 11.4379) 4-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 12 Phoenix Bourgade Catholic (6-5-2, 4.3334) 3-1 in the first round.
Phoenix Country Day (11-1, 14.0594) eliminated No. 10 Phoenix NFL Yet (9-3, 5.6926) 5-0 in the quarterfinals and No. 15 Glendale Trivium Prep (8-5-1, 1.4012) 8-0 in the first round.
Gilbert Christian (11-1, 12.8951) ousted No. 6 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (10-1, 10.2811) on a 7-6 penalty kick after a 1-1 regulation tie in the quarterfinals and 3-1 over No. 14 Yuma Catholic (6-6-1, 1.7421) in the first round.
First-round exits were made by No. 16 Coolidge (7-5, 1.2263), 5-1 to Odyssey Institute; No. 13 Queen Creek San Tan Foothills (8-4, 2.0434), 4-0 to American leadership – Ironwood; No. 11 Florence (9-3, 5.2671), 6-2 to Pusch Ridge; and No. 7 Chandler Valley Christian (8-2-1, 8.3782), on a 5-4 penalty kick after a 0-0 regulation tie with NFL Yet.
The 16 state tourney participants numbered five from the East and Southwest Regions; two from both the Central and Metro Regions; and one apiece from the South and Southeast Regions.
