Ironwood Ridge midfielder Alyssa Kopach fights for the ball with Apllo standouts Britney Flores (13) and Karla Herrea. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The day started out with ten teams from Southern Arizona battling in the various quarterfinal matches taking place in Tucson and around the state and it ended with five teams moving on to play in Semifinal Week.

The semifinals for the various conferences will take place from Tuesday, Feb. 6 to Friday, Feb. 9 with all championships, regardless of gender or classification, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10.

Starting with the girls, No. 2 Ironwood Ridge got past No. 10 Apollo 4-0 at home to advance to the 5A semifinals scheduled for Thursday, Feb. at Campo Verde High School. The Nighthawks will face No. 3 Chaparral at 7 p.m.

Senior defender Emma McCormick got things going on a pass from Gabi Hernandez in the 21st minute and Julia Mohan fed Alyssa Kopach in the 52nd to go up 2-0.

The Nighthawks outshot Apollo 21-3 and the energy seemed to increase as the game went on.

“It was amazing,” McCormick said. “I felt excited before during and after the game. I think we have improved so much this year and we have to go a little bit more to get that ring.”

A goal from Bella Santavicca (Clare Merrigan) in the 66th pretty much shut the door and Santavicca found Mohan in the 71st for the 4-0 final.

This will be the third trip to the semifinals in a row for Ironwood Ridge (15-4-4).

The Nighthawks fell to Chaparral (16-4-4) in the semifinal round last year, 5-4 in PKs, and the Firebirds went on to win the 5A state championship a day later. Salpointe knocked the Nighthawks out in the Division II semifinal round in 2016.

Ironwood Ridge made it to the Division II championship game in 2011.

No. 2 Salpointe beat No. 7 Higley 6-0 to set up a date with No. 6 Prescott on Tuesday night in the 4A girls semifinals to be played at Williams Field at 7 p.m. The Lancers won the 4A state championship last year and finished runner-up in 2016.

No. 4 Catalina Foothills beat No. 5 Cactus Shadows 3-0 in the other 4A quarterfinal game involving girls from Southern Arizona. The Falcons will face No. 1 Flagstaff at 5 p.m., right before the Salpointe match.

The Falcons made it to the 4A quarterfinal round last year and the D-II semifinal round in 2016.

On the boy’s side, two teams from Southern Arizona advanced including No. 10 Salpointe in a 3-2 overtime victory at No. 2 Greenway. The Lancers will play their semifinal game on Thursday night against No. 3 Cortez at 7 p.m. at Williams Field.

The Lancers finished runner-up in the 4A playoffs last year, losing 5-3 in PKs to Coronado.

No. 12 Sabino upset No. 4 Safford 4-0 in the 3A quarterfinals and the Sabercats will play their semifinal game at Williams Field also but on Friday night at 5 p.m. against No. 1 AZ College Prep.

The Sabercats only won one match two years ago and the program has been absent from the playoffs since 2010, a semifinal finish in the old 4A-Division I configuration.