Making their way to the state championship, the Lady Falcons played a long, grueling match against Walden Grove Friday, Feb. 13, resulting in a blank scoreboard after regulation play and two sets of overtime.

In the end, it all came down to a tense penalty kick shootout, with the local squad eventually losing 5-4 to earn the state runner-up trophy.

Semi-finals

Before heading to the finals, however, the local ladies first had to overcome their opponents from Northwest Christian, who they managed to best 2-0 Feb. 10 in the state semi-finals.

With the game tied at 0-0 going into halftime, the Falcons finally drew first blood just four minutes after the start of the second half, with Leah Carillo taking a pass from Sierra Jarriel and sinking it in the back of the net, putting the Falcons up 1-0.

The Falcons tried to earn some additional breathing room, but Northwest Christian’s defense held strong until nearly the final whistle.

“With eight minutes left in the game, a penalty from about 35 yards out gave Courtney Dunham an opportunity,” explained Coach Alison Mabery.

“She sailed a shot perfectly above the outstretched keeper’s hands and just under the cross bar.”

It was an impressive way to go up 2-0 over their opponents, which is where the game would end; sending the Falcons to their ultimate destination for the season: The state championship match.

State finals

Playing out of Campo Verde High School on the opposite side of the Valley, the Falcons met Walden Grove on the pitch last Friday evening to battle for the season title.

The game started off with Walden Grove pushing hard on offense, but the Falcons soon took over and controlled possession for the majority of the game.

The evening provided something of a perfect storm for competition, with the Falcons’ impressive offensive efforts consistently shutdown by an equally impressive defensive push from Walden Grove.

The Falcons managed several dangerous shots on goal throughout the evening, but the Walden Grove keeper proved to be an impenetrable wall.

While Walden Grove also managed to make a few dangerous shots, the Falcons’ Charlotte Tornee kept the deflections coming, keeping the match 0-0 until the end of the second half.

Coach Mabery described the game as a “perfect match-up,” with both teams demonstrating identical styles of play. Whenever one team broke through, the other shut them down.

It was a pattern that would continue far beyond regulation time, with Fountain Hills and Walden Grove remaining scoreless through two additional 10-minute halves and two additional five- minute halves, totaling nearly two hours of constant running, tackling, stealing, shooting and blocking.

At this point, the match had to move to penalty kicks and Sierra Jarriel stepped into the goal to provide some fresh coverage, going toe-to-toe with the keeper from Walden Grove.

A lot of solid shots found the back of the net, with kickers squaring off against the keepers from close range. In the end, however, the challengers managed to land an unanswered goal, moving ahead 5-4 in penalty kicks to win the game, earning the Lady Falcons this year’s runner-up trophy and narrowly missing a back-to-back title.