Sabino senior Cathy Leyva (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Ties are complicated. Nothing is decided and nothing gets resolved. Ties complicate things.

No. 14 Sabino and No. 20 Sahuarita played to a 0-0 tie Thursday night and the only team that benefitted in the 3A Region 7 race was No. 6 Tanque Verde. The Hawks lead the region with a 3-0 record while Sahuarita moved to 3-0-1 and Sabino to 2-0-1. Both teams missed an opportunity.

The Mustangs have been out of the playoff picture since 2015 and the Sabercats since 2014, with only 16 teams making the state playoffs, a win here would have gone a long way to erasing the struggles.

Tanque Verde has control of the lone automatic playoff berth from the region but the Hawks will be tested down the stretch with region matches at Sabino (Jan. 16), at Pusch Ridge (Jan. 18) and a home stand against Sahuarita (Jan. 25). The race is far from over but the tie puts Tanque Verde in the driver’s seat.

Sahuarita came out strong and dominated play in the first half of regulation but only had three shots on goal to show for it while Sabino provided much of the offense in the second half.  By the time the final buzzer sounded some 100 minutes later, both teams finished with 15 shots, eight saves and no score.

She may only be a freshman, but Kambria Cash had 18 goals coming into the match against Sabino. The forward is tied for tenth in the state for goals scored and third best for freshmen but finding the net against Sabino was difficult.

“I came in feeling pretty good because I scored five against Sunnyside and three against San Miguel but this was a rough game,” Cash said. “The intensity was high and we have to keep working. We are connecting more as a team.”

Sabino sports seven seniors and no juniors. 10 sophomores on the roster means the Sabercats are set for the future but the future is now for the seniors and none of them knows what the postseason looks like.

Senior midfielder Cathy Leyva is the third sister to come through the Sabercat program. Kristen Leyva graduated in 2014 and Jacqueline in 2016. The 2014 squad finished the year ranked No. 7 in Division II and then capped it off with a quarterfinal state finish. Cathy would like to experience some of that success.

“We need to work hard and give all the effort we can,” Leyva said. “Honestly, we need to go out and get some wins. That’s what’s on our minds right now.”

As mentioned before, Sabino will host Tanque Verde on Jan. 16 while Sahuarita will travel to Palo Verde on the same night in a nonconference match.