Daniel Ochoa is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Xavier College Preparatory for AZPreps365.com

Xavier sports legacy travels through every inch of the teams, including a soccer team, currently led by head coach Barbara Chura, that has won 11 state championships since 1990, and are coming back this season as reigning champions of the 6A conference.

With an almost completely restructured lineup for Xavier, Chura is going to get creative this year after losing eight seniors, including Jaden Campbell, a candidate for Arizona’s 2021 girls soccer player of the year. Chura still has many players returning as leaders for the team, as well as four incoming freshman and two transfers.

One of the few returners for Xavier is junior Bella Leonard, who is entering her second year of varsity soccer at Xavier. At the midfield position Leonard scored eight goals with three assists in 13 games played on the year.

Leonard, like many of her teammates, participates in year-round club soccer, where they are able to attend college showcases to gain recognition to possibly play soccer at the higher level. Leonard currently plays on the Utah Royals FC, joined by a couple of her Xavier teammates, which boosts the chemistry among an almost fresh team.

“You can be the best team, and have awful team chemistry, and you’re probably not gonna do very well,” Chura said.

Xavier’s moto, “Where women of faith pursue excellence,” applies to studies, but transfers to the field to become more than just teammates. Xavier has created a sense of family among these young women and clearly in the soccer program.

“[Last year’s seniors] really emphasized family, as opposed to hard competition,” Leonard said. “They emphasized being close-knit and kind of that family atmosphere.”

On Monday night, instead of practice, Chura encouraged a team bonding activity for the Gators. The team broke out into groups, dividing up the girls into groups of four or five, with a variety of different grades. The girls spent the night going out to eat and mentioned that they all got dessert at Crumbl Cookie.

One of the transfers, Madison Schenk, comes from Desert Vista as a sophomore, playing her freshman year as a varsity midfielder. Desert Vista, in the 2020-21 season, went 6-3-2 on the season with a first round exit in the 6A state playoffs. Schenk is currently ineligible to play for 50% of Xavier’s regular season contests according to the AIA’s Article 15.10.1 Student Eligibility Rules.

For Schenk, the decision for coming to Xavier was an easy one, with the only difficult aspect of it being the commute. Schenk drives 40 minutes for school, but said Xavier was the best option because of its exceptionally talented sports programs and the rigorous academics.

“For me, Xavier is just the perfect school environment,” Schenk said.

With her unable to play the first six games, Schenk will try and maintain her skills for her first game with Xavier and help the team possibly win back-to-back state titles.

“I really want to focus on becoming the best player I can be, so when I can start playing, I will be ready to compete for a starting spot,” Schenk said.

With Xavier’s first matchup coming against Mountain Ridge on Nov. 30, Chura and the Xavier girls soccer team will look to pick up where they left off and start their tread over Arizona teams to go back to the state championships.

“Expectations?” Chura said. “State title.”