By Edwin Rodriguez

Yuma Catholic’s boys soccer team repeated as state champ, defeating perennial power Cortez 2-1 in Saturday’s Division III state championship game at Williams Field.  

In the second half, with a slim angle to shoot, Omar Rojas opened up the scoreboard in the 58^th minute by floating it over Cortez’s keeper from outside the left side of the box area.

With 18:07 remaining, Yuma Catholic scored again when Jorge Ruiz received the ball in the box with his back to the goal but created enough separation from a Cortez defender to release a clean shot, increasing the lead, 2-0.

The second half was a physical battle for the ball, but Cortez did pressure Yuma Catholic’s defense. A free kick at the 23:08 mark produced a dangerous shot from Cortez but Yuma Catholic goalkeeper Daniel Perez was there to keep Cortez scoreless.

The desperation pressure by Cortez continued and was rewarded with a free kick with 15:04 remaining. The set piece shot zoomed past the wall of defenders and dropped, reaching the hands of a diving Perez.

Initially, it seemed like the ball squeezed in from under him for the first Cortez goal. But the ball somehow never got past Perez to the delight of Yuma Catholic’s fans.

With just more than two minutes left in the game, Cortez finally got past Perez when Victor Sanchez floated the ball over the goalkeeper after receiving a bouncing ball near a corner of the box.   

Yuma Catholic thwarted another dangerous Cortez threat near the very end to help it cap a 20-1 season.

“It was very uncomfortable in the second half,” an emotional Yuma Catholic coach Ralph Evans said after surviving a ferocious rally by Cortez. “They (Cortez) came to play. They rushed. They attacked. They passed the ball real well. To come back to play a team like that in a game like this and win two championships in a row validates how good a team this is.”

Yost, Fountain Hills pounce on Palo Verde 

The Fountain Hills girls atoned for their loss in the Division III soccer championship match from a year ago Saturday afternoon, getting past Palo Verde, 4-2, to lift the trophy for a second time three seasons.

A fast start Saturday by seventh-seeded Fountain Hills proved to be too much for No. 4 Palo Verde to come back from in the D-III title game. It took Fountain Hills only one minute and eight seconds to take the lead.

A Fountain Hills clearance turned into a breakaway, leaving Erika Yost 1-on-1 with Palo Verde goalkeeper Sara Voirin. Yost beat Voirin with a low shot to the corner of the net.

With Fountain Hills’ girls dominating possession to begin the game, they scored again at the 30:12 mark. Selina Reisig made it 2-0 when she was the fortunate recipient of a failed Palo Verde clearance.

But the roles reversed somewhat after that goal. A defensive miscue in the last quarter of the field allowed Dominick Smock to take an uncontested shot from outside the box and put the ball over the goalkeeper for Palo Verde’s first goal.

That gave Palo Verde confidence as it began to pressure Fountain Hills’ defense, but nobody scored again until the 49^th minute.

A failed deflection by Palo Verde’s defense left Yost with the ball inside the area to score her second of the afternoon. Trailing 3-1 and time becoming a factor, Palo Verde attacked with desperation and success.

Khadijo Mohamed’s ferocious volley put the game within reach and the ball out of the reach of Fountain Hill’s goalkeeper in the 60^th minute. But Fountain Hills withstood the pressure, and Yost sealed the 4-2 win with a long range shot.

“We were peaking at the right time,” Fountain Hills coach Alison Mabery said. “We had a rough season. We had injuries. It’s really about taking care of your players so that you are ready to go when the playoffs are here.”

Yost was injured during last year’s playoffs, but she sure looked healthy Saturday.

“The whole team was working really hard together, and I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Yost about her championship hat trick. “I didn’t get to play last year, because I tore my meniscus but to come back and win it is awesome.”

Edwin Rodriguez is an Arizona State University sports journalism student.