Xavier defender Kellie Peay has two reminders of Saturday's Division I  soccer championship match. One wasn't pretty. The other was. As in pretty decisive.

The second was painful yet tolerable -- a gash to the face next to her right ear with 11 seconds left in the match after a violent collision with a Desert Vista player trying to tie the game at the top of the Gators' box.  Tolerable because the first was the goal she scored nine minutes earlier that provided  No. 4 Xavier the margin of victory, a 1-0 win over No. 2 Desert Vista at Campo Verde High School.

Xavier finished the season 17-3-3, a season with lots of adversity. It was Xavier's eighth soccer title and the third under current coach Barb Chura. Desert Vista (24-3) wrapped up its second year under coach Marvin Hypolite with a runner-up trophy rather than a quarterfinal exit. A better year overall.

Xavier entered the tournament shaky, but somewhat stable. Opponents respected the Gators, but perhaps more credence was given Pinnacle, Highland or Desert Vista among the top four seeds because of tthings that have affected Xavier this season. Injuries, some more severe than Peay's, were a good part of the 2012-2013 campaign.

"Things like that have been the story of our season," Chura said, pointing out Peay's gash. "We've had eight starters out at one time or another with injuries, sickness, transfers. It all started in December. We kept telling the girls the next girl has to step up. We have a good program, and were able to do that."

The teams battled to a stalemate for 70 minutes Saturday with Desert Vista having the better of it the first half and Xavier the second. It boiled down to one set piece that Xavier executed to perfection.

Freshman Alexis Allard took a corner kick from the left side and  Peay knocked it home from about five yards out with plenty of space in front of her in the 71st minute. It was uncharacteristic for Desert Vista that a foe had as good a look as Peay did. The Thunder shut down high-powered Highland on a number of set pieces in the semifinals and surrendered only two goals in the tournament.

"We work a lot on set pieces because in higher level games like this they usually decide it," Chura said. "Kellie is one of the best players in the back in the state. She usually is preventing goals, not scoring them."

Peay, who had a trainer keep the bleeding from her gash to a minimum while she did postgame interviews, wasn't letting on if she was upset about her malady. She was likely headed to the hospital for stitches after the celebration and victory photos ceased.

"If people ask I can tell them I got this when we won state," Peay said. ".....When I came up for the corner I had a good feeling. Alexis put it right there for me."