No. 6 Catalina Foothills over No. 11 Centennial in overtime

February 15, 2023 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


(Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

No. 6 Catalina Foothills beat No. 11 Centennial 4-2 in overtime Wednesday night in the first round of the 5A state playoffs and the Falcons will travel to play at No.3 Millennium in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. Millennium beat No. 14 Desert Edge 7-0 to set up that quarterfinal match.

Centennial came into the playoffs on a 7-1 run, including a 6-1 victory over Marana Mountain View in the play-in round last week, and it looked like the winning streak would continue at Catalina Foothills after senior striker Leslie Duarte put the Coyotes up 1-0 in the 25th minute despite a constant Falcon attack that ultimately came up empty on 10 shots in the first half.

The Falcons only took two shots on goal in the second half and both of them found the net with sophomore Gracie Oxnam hitting a deep shot to tie the match up in the 53rd minute and junior Emerson Barker doing the same in the 67th. It looked like the Falcons would win out in regulation but senior Maegen Hill sent the match to overtime with a goal in the 73rd minute.

Senior Emma Danforth put Catalina Foothills up for good in the 85th minute and Mackenzie Goodman put some distance between the two teams with a goal in the 92nd minute for the 4-2 final.

Centennial finished the year with a 10-4 record in ranking matches and the Falcons improved to 12-1. Millennium is also 12-1 on the year.