By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

MESA — Lainey Swanson knew the clock was ticking down.

Fortunately for her and her Xavier College Prep girls soccer team, the shot she took was before the end of the first overtime period.

And it went in.

Swanson’s goal, on a shot taken in the middle right near the 18-yard box, came just as time appeared to expire in the first overtime of the March 1 girls Open Division championship match. The Gators (17-1) hung on throughout the second 10-minute overtime to beat Casteel, 2-1, making them a state-champion team for the fifth year in a row.

“I can’t even believe it,” Swanson said afterward. “The whole experience is, like, unreal.”

Swanson scored on a similar play about nine minutes into the match, though she had to work for an open shot to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Casteel (16-2) took some of the momentum, at times, and put in a goal in the 65th minute on a free kick by Alisha Maake, and the Gators needed some luck on a few of the Colts’ chances that involved lucky bounces or a shot sailing just wide.

Xavier held some momentum toward the end of regulation and missed a few chances early in overtime before Swanson scored what turned out to be the match-winner.

Gator forward Olivia Yiu dribbled in from the left sideline and set Swanson up with a near-perfect centering pass.

“We try to work the ball through the midfield until we find the wide players, and then we try to work it back into the middle to set up a shot,” Swanson said.

The Gators were facing a Chandler Unified School District opponent for the fourth straight finals, having beaten Perry twice in the 6A championship match. Xavier outlasted Hamilton in penalty kicks on the same Mesa High School field a year ago for their fourth straight 6A crown.

Senior defender Izzy Lee was among the Gators charged with shutting down Casteel’s talented forwards. She said it was a stated team objective to win their fifth title in a row.

“It was just everything we wanted — to get the win and leave with the ‘five-peat,’” Lee said. “So we’re really happy.”

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.