No. 2 Walden Grove beat No. 4 Salpointe 3-1 Friday night at Marana High School to claim the 4A state championship, the second in program history. Former head coach Carey Bauer led the Red Wolves to the first state championship in any sport in 2015 and current head coach Troy Bosley has been in charge over the last four years. Bosley, a former Sahuaro standout, lost to Salpointe in the semifinal round in 2022 and in the state final last year, making the victory more special for the program

On the other side, the Lancers have played in the state final eight of the last nine years dating back to 2016, when former head coach Becky Freeman led the program to a runner-up finish and then a state title in 2017. Current head coach Kelly Pierce won two state championships as a player in 1998 and 1999 and she replaced Barry in 2018, winning five more state championships as a coach.

The two teams played to a 1-1 tie in early December and it was almost destiny for the two teams to meet again in the playoffs despite the rankings going in. Flagstaff (15-2) was the top seed but Salpointe (13-3-2) knocked the Eagles out of the semifinal round by a score of 3-0 and No. 2 Prescott (12-2) lost to No. 11 Saguaro (12-4-3) in the quarterfinal round and then Walden Grove (20-0-1) beat Saguaro 3-1 in the other semifinal match to set up the championship.

The state final, Salpointe scored in the sixth minute of a rebound from Emma Cazares but Vivien Villarreal connected on a header off a corner from Liana Vivas in the 20th to even the match. Villarreal scored again in the 70th and Meredith Galus scored a on free kick in the 74th to put the match away at 3-1. Walden Grove keeper Julia Vigorita came up with three saves in the final moments to preserve the victory.

“They had a lot of fight in them and a lot of grit,” Pierce said on her squad. “It wasn't easy for us, we had a lot of close games and came from behind a lot of times and not to say they didn't battle but tonight just was not our night. We were just trying to get settled in and we just really couldn't and then we just couldn't capitalize on opportunities that we had.”

Only a sophomore, Villarreal scored 48 goals this year, including 12 in the state playoffs alone. She is in the top ten nationally in scoring, number three in Arizona and tops in the 4A Conference. Her senior teammate, Milana Eyrich, had 41.

THE GOALS