By Richard Smith
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X: @rsmithYWV

Boys and girls soccer joined football and boys and girls basketball with an Open Division format for the 2024-25 season.

It is similar to the basketball format. The top 32 teams from the 4A-6A conferences qualified for the first round. Then, the final eight teams remain in the Open Division while the other 24 go back into their respective conferences.

Four West Valley Preps teams play in the first round of the Open tonight at 6 p.m. And three are hosting games:

No. 27 Tucson Desert View (9-3) at No. 6 Sunrise Mountain (10-1)
WHERE: 21200 N. 83rd Ave., Peoria.

After making their second 5A final in three years in 2024 and losing to perennial nemesis Ironwood, the Mustangs have been on a mission this season.

Sunrise Mountain won the Bulldog tournament  at Goldwater, then lost their season opener at Arizona College Prep. Since then the Mustangs have only lost once and tied once during a Christmas tournament.

The highlight of a season-ending 10-game win streak took place Feb. 4 in Glendale, when Sunrise Mountain beat Ironwood for the first time in school history. Senior forward Kale Howell scored both goals in the 2-0 win.

"It's great to get this win. A lot of these boys have been part of the team the whole time. It means a lot to me as well," coach Erik Andersen said.

Fourteen seniors led the Mustangs to their best regular season. Howell, goalkeeper Mason Tumey and defender Luke Curless are the team captains.

"Kale and Mason both started as freshmen in the (2022) championship. Both broke records at our school. Kale broke the goal scoring record and Mason broke the saves record," Andersen said. "It's a really good group of boys. They love each other. It's a pretty special team"

 There is only one Desert View result that has any link to Sunrise Mountain. The Jaguars lost a regular season game 2-1 at Mountain Ridge, nine days after the Mountain Lions lost to the Mustangs 2-1 in the Bulldog tournament.

No. 21 Phoenix Sierra  Linda (10-1-1) at No. 12 Shadow Ridge (10-1-1)
WHERE: 10909 N. Perryville Road, Surprise

Shadow Ridge is another senior-laden squad that has built to this season and playoffs, after winning the first 6A playoff game in school history last season.

The Stallions tied #2 Phoenix Desert Vista and beat O'Connor and Liberty. Now it's time for the playoff return the squad has longed for after a second round 4-0 loss at San Luis last year.

“We had to travel a long way and we really never got off of the bus. We had bus legs and just played awful,” Engwall said. “They know what they’re capable of doing if they’re given an opportunity to get there again. I think they’ll be a lot better. They were humble about it and they were honest about it.”

Sierra Linda also is a bit of a mystery team. The Bulldogs lost to No. 5 Washington, a team that did not lose to any 5A opponents.

Shadow Ridge gets a home game in front of a crowd that has grown over the years with them.

“Nobody really knew about the soccer team. We only won three games. Now we’re contending for a state championship,” senior goalkeeper Eli Anderson said.

No. 20 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge (10-1-1) at No. 13 Ironwood (9-3)
West Valley Preps will cover this game
WHERE: 6051 W. Sweetweter Ave., Glendale

The defending 5A champion's losses are all to teams ranked in the top six statewide - Desert Vista, Washington and Sunrise Mountain. Each time the Eagles bounced back quickly.

Earlier this season, Bryan Romero became the leading goal scorer in the history of this seven-time state championship program, with his 70th goal.

Ironwood Ridge was undefeated until an 8-2 loss to traditional Tucson-area power Salpointe Catholic to end the regular season. 

No. 23 Liberty (8-4) at No. 10 Chandler Arizona College Prep (10-2)
West Valley Preps will cover this game
WHERE: 4477 S. Gilbert Road, Chandler

It has been a season of redeption for Liberty, after the program struggled with moving up to 6A in 2018. The last two years, the Lions squeaked into the main 6A draw as the #16 and #15 seed respectively.

This Liberty team finished #10 in 6A and played several top teams in the conference tough, including #1 Pinnacle and Shadow Ridge.

Arizona College Prep was ranked as the top team in 5A for most of the year until dropping after late losses to Campo Verde and Desert Mountain.

Richard Smith
News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.