Madison Thacker is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chaparral High School for AZPreps365.com.

With arms wrapped around each other and teary eyes, Chaparral’s soccer players held their heads high with pride after falling to Xavier Prep 2-0 in the 6A girls soccer state championship Friday night.

Chaparral students and family members filled the stands with a sea of red and black to cheer their defending state champions.

The first five minutes, Xavier Prep put pressure on their midfield and broke through to score their first goal.

“We were unorganized in the midfield and we left her open and she had a perfect shot,” senior captain Lauren Carlson said.

After the final whistle, sophomore Delaney Penn is comforted by her team. (Madison Thacker/AZPreps365)After the goal, the Firebirds struggled to push forward, as they tried to keep a high line, but they kept having to track back and defend. The first shot on goal for Chaparral didn’t come until halfway through the first half with an opportunity and then a free kick following the shot.

The free kick wasn’t much of an opportunity, though, as sophomore forward Sammi Fisher’s kick went comfortably to the hands of the goalkeeper.

Xavier Prep’s Olivia Castrichini challenged Chaparral’s backline with deep throw-ins but weren’t much of a threat for junior goalkeeper Avery Fletcher, as the ball ended up safely her hands.

Xavier Prep’s Eva Allen ran the defense up and down the sidelines, beating Chaparral’s defenders with her speed every time.

At the end of the first half, Chapparal still trailed 1-0 with little to no opportunities in the first half. Xavier Prep dominated the first half by giving the ball to Allen down the sidelines, and keeping possession when Chaparral turned the ball over.

At halftime, Carlson brought her teammates together with a bigger vision in mind than winning the game.

“It was pretty emotional with it being our last game together, but I just wanted everybody to enjoy it and I think we did,” Carlson said. “We gave it everything we had until the very end and it just didn’t go our way.”

The second half was full of scoring opportunities for Chaparral, but they couldn’t seem to capitalize.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to put it in but not for lack of effort,” Chaparral head coach Robyn Carlson said. “Our second half was dominant and awesome. I thought we had more chances than they did that second half.”

Xavier Prep left holes in their backline for Fisher to drive down the sidelines, winning corners and free kicks.

Fisher’s biggest opportunity came in the 20th minute when she received a cross from the sideline, in the middle of the box. Fisher wasn’t able to keep the ball down as her shot went right over the cross bar.

Just a few minutes later, Chaparral earned a corner kick, and it was headed right over the bar by Ally Levine. 

In the final moments, the team pushed for another opportunity, but instead that opportunity came for Xavier Prep.

With two minutes left, Allen scored a goal to seal the state championship win.

For the Firebirds, playing in the state final was not something they expected this season due to losing eight of their starters from last season's championship team.

But they earned their right to the state final game yet again.

“I’m proud of us for making it this far,” Fisher said. Nobody thought we would, but we did and at least we got some sort of medal.”