Chandler's Kendall Hill lets fly a free kick in Wolves' 2-1 win over Basha (AzPreps365 photo)

 

Chandler's girls soccer team had one last chance to register a win in Premier Region play Thursday night. That opportunity was againtst Basha, a team that entered the week No. 1 in the 6A power rankings.

Things change, however, on a daily basis in this region and they shuffled once again as No. 7 Chandler acquired what it came for -- a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Basha on the Bears' Senior Night. Sydney Wiedeman's second-half goal was the difference.

Combining this result with No. 3 Perry's 3-0 blanking of No. 1 and defending state champ Xavier Prep, the region crown is up for grabs Tuesday Jan. 23 when the final region matchups are played -- Perry at Hamilton and Basha at Xavier. Perry and Xavier are currently tied for first at 2-1, Basha is next at 1-1-1 followed by Chandler 1-2-1 and Hamilton 0-1-2. Hamilton is currently ranked No. 6 in the power rankings.

Chandler coach Joe Paulsen was relieved his squad put one up in the region win column. Region wins in the Premier Region come with a bit more satisfaction because of how tough it has been this season 1 through 5.

"This is the first time we've executed our game plan 100 percent," Paulsen said. "it's great to be on the winning end. We've been in every region game. This is my fourth year and I know overall we're improving even though the (win-loss) results may not show that. It's fun to play in a region like this. Every game is a challenge."

Chandler (7-6-1 overall) never trailed and scored first. In the 12th minute, sophomore midfielder Kendall Hill lined up for the first of four free kick attempts from very close to the same distance each time (30 yards out). All were struck well nd at least three on frame. The first one was past Basha keeper Samantha Del Monte for the 1-0 lead. 

"Early in the year she was shanking a lot of those," Paulsen said. "But she put in extra time in practice working on it. Tonight you could see it paid off."

Basha (16-3-1 overall) tied it in the 31st minute using the anticipation of senior Rylee Mitchell as the impetus. Mitchell anticipated perfectly a pass on Chandler's side of midfield and intercepted it like a football defensive back. She got the ball to leading scorer Margie DeTriizio who got off a shot that keeper Gabriella Senior deflected. Basha's Madison Coppola collected the deflection and slammed in in the back of the net for a halftime deadlock.

Chandler's game-winning goal came in the 55th minute on an ultra-determined effort by junior midfielder Wiedeman. Wiedeman would not be denied making a path on the left side of the box towared the goal despite tight defensive pressure.. Wiedeman seemed to fall to the ground, but still flicked a shot that hit the target. Basha was unable to get the equalizer in the final 25 minutes as Chandler's defense was solid and keeper Senior made a couple saves in traffic in the final minutes.