Emily Carman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Casteel High School for AZPreps365.com

The Casteel boys and girls soccer teams have been a commanding force on the field throughout regular season play. Now, they are ready to dominate the 5A state championship bracket as playoffs begin this week. 

The official playoff brackets for boys soccer and girls soccer were released by the AIA Saturday morning. 

Both Casteel teams have been selected as the No. 1 seeds going into the tournament so they will have the advantage of playing first-round matches at home on Tuesday night for boys and Wednesday night for the girls.    

Boys Soccer Playoff Preview 

The Casteel boys soccer team (12-1) is ranked No. 1 in the 5A conference by the AIA and No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps behind American Leadership Academy-Gilbert North. They were undefeated through the majority of the season but recently were defeated by Independence, 3-1.

“Personally, tears came down my face after the game. It was disappointing and I was angry,” senior captain Kaden Cameron said. “But, we're humbled now and hungrier than we were before.” 

The loss to No. 6 Independence was one of Casteels toughest matches. According to Coach Greg Lanman, overconfidence from the players and the lack of stronger opponents in their schedule left them underprepared.    

“I think we got a little bit content,” Lanman said of the loss. “I think we haven’t really been challenged and when we were finally challenged we made a few mistakes that led to three goals the other way.”

The match gave Casteel a taste of playoff caliber soccer and showed them what is required to compete against top opponents

“We're going to turn this negative into a positive,” Lanman said. “This loss did refocus us. The last few practices have been pretty good and the kids are locked in and ready to go. They know what it takes now. They know the task at hand.”

Following the loss, the boys rebounded to defeat Centennial (1-11) during their final match of the regular season. The Colts defeated the Coyotes 4-0 on Friday night. 

With a 12th win under their belt, the mindset of the team is now strong and focused on the playoffs, according to Cameron and fellow senior captain Mason Salonic.  

“We realize that we may be No. 1 ranked, but we just lost a game so we have to go into the playoffs hungry to win every game,” Salonic said. “Nothing is going to be given to us.” 

Last year, the Colts made it to the quarterfinals of the state championship tournament, but fell 3-0 to the No. 1-seed Sunnyside.  

This year, they are determined and prepared to go all the way. According to the captains, facing challenges like COVID-19 has prepared the team for anything that comes their way. 

“COVID has been kind of motivating for us,” Salonic said. “Knowing that anything could happen, we're kind of going into every game with the mindset that it could be our last because you never know what circumstances are going to unfold.”

The fact that Cameron and Salonic are seniors, along with 10 other players, motivates them further.  

“Because it's our last year, obviously we want to lift that trophy and finally have that state championship title,” Cameron said. 

“We want to make a mark on the program and hopefully we can keep making runs deep into the playoffs for years to come,” Salonic said. 

The Colts' first playoff match will be on their home field at 6 p.m. Tuesday against No. 16 seed Lake Havasu (5-5).  

Girls Soccer Playoff Preview

The Casteel girls soccer team (13-0) tops both the 5A conference rankings and the state girls soccer rankings according to MaxPreps. 

The Colts closed out the regular season with a 5-0 victory over Centennial (7-4-1)  on Friday night. To win a state championship, the girls will need to remain undefeated and complete a record-breaking perfect season. 

The last time the Colts went undefeated in regular season play was in 2017. With a 12-0 record going into the playoffs, the girls made it to the quarterfinals but were ousted by Scottsdale Christian Academy, 2-1. 

The following year they returned to win the 3A state championship. They earned their second state championship title in the 5A conference in 2020. Now, they are chasing a third.     

Last year, Casteel defeated Ironwood Ridge 3-0 to claim the championship trophy. After returning 20 players, the Colts are poised to do it again. 

Casteel’s seasoned roster, which includes 12 seniors, knows what it takes to win a championship. 

“We want to end our high school career as seniors with another win,” said senior captain Alisha Maake. “There's definitely that pressure to do it and we know that we can do it because we did it last year. We are going to push ourselves to do it again.”   

To win the title, Hammonds doesn’t believe the girls need much motivating or instruction from him. 

“This is one of the easiest jobs I've ever had because I have such dedicated student athletes that take ownership of the program and make it their own,” Hammonds said. “That's the nice thing about this group. There's no real need to do any extra motivating. They're a very self-motivated group, which makes them special.”

Maake and fellow senior captain Lily Steenhard said the team's culture has been all about facing and overcoming challenges this year.   

“This is just another great opportunity for us to step up to the plate with all the difficulties that we face this year,” Steenhard said. “We look at the playoffs as just another challenge that we're going to have to overcome. We've already faced so much our senior year.” 

In order to win the state championship, the girls are focused on coming together and playing in unity.  

“We can't be playing as individuals, especially going into playoffs,” Maake said “We have to be collective and be united. That's the biggest thing is just being able to play and connect together.”

For Hammonds, if the team continues to play as they have all year, they will see victory in the end. 

“It's just the basics,” he said. “The basics will help us all the way through.”

As the No. 1 seed, the girls will begin their playoff run on home turf. They are scheduled to play No. 16 seed Glendale (5-3) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.