Hook leads Xavier to title after breaking nose
Phoenix Xavier Prep defended its 6A girls state soccer championship on Saturday behind one of the few seniors who decided it was worth coming back to do it again.
Nicole Hook, a defender who got knocked out of the match early with a broken nose, returned and headed in the only goal with 22 minutes and 32 seconds left, giving Xavier a 1-0 victory over Gilbert Perry for the title at Gilbert Campo Verde.
Hook timed a corner kick from Abby Hubbard just right, finding the corner of the net.
It was Xavier’s 10th state soccer championship and fifth in 12 seasons under coach Barbara Chura.
“It feels amazing,” Hook said. “We just pulled it together. It was a tough game. I saw the ball. It was a perfect pass by Abby. I just had to finish it.”
It was uncertain whether Hook would finish the game, as she was being administered to by an athletic trainer on the Xavier bench for much of the first half, trying to get the bleeding to stop.
Hook had gone up for a ball and she hit her nose against a Perry player’s head.
“She anchors our back line with Jocelyn (Rupp),” Chura said. “I don’t know how long she was out, 15 or 20 minutes. (Junior forward) Kyla Ferry is one of the best players in the country. She took it upon herself and went and played center-back. They’re incredible in the air.
“That is leadership kicking in.”
Takeaways
This wasn’t supposed to be Xavier’s season again when six seniors decided not to come out. During senior night, there were only five seniors introduced. But this young team got close, jelled and led this team.
“It was hard at first,” senior goalkeeper Kinsey Ehmann said. “We’re a very young team. But I think that just worked to our advantage. Everybody was willing to band together and work as hard as they could. There were so many great leaders on this team.”
Chura didn’t want to talk about those who didn’t come out to play on this team.
“They don’t deserve it,” Chura said. “Only the ones out here deserve it. You can only worry about the ones who want to be here and not the ones who don’t want to be here.
“Yes, there are a lot of talented players who are walking our hallways. But you know what, I don’t want to talk about them. I don’t want to give them any credit. I worry about who is here.”
Ehmann was incredible in the net. She didn’t allow a goal in four state tournament games. She knew Perry would be relentless attacking in the final 22 minutes after Xavier struck first.
She kept turning away shots, with the help of her defenders. It got close with 10 minutes left when Perry was in close range of the net, but freshman Mikella Reed’s shot went across the net and wide.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Ehmann, who has signed to play college soccer at Pepperdine. “A 1-0 lead is really hard to maintain, but I think we all did a great job of maintaining it. They were going to push everything forward.”
This was a revenge game of sorts for Xavier (16-3-2), which lost to Perry 3-0 late in the regular season. It was Xavier’s only loss to an Arizona opponent.
It came on Perry’s senior night with the Pumas (22-3) playing with much emotion.
“It’s really hard to get here,” Chura said. “Perry is such a formidable opponent. They were last year. When we get this far, a lot of things have to happen. I think it’s the will to win. I think we prepared really well.”
Final word
“I was a little worried, but I just knew I had to stop the bleeding to get back in.” – Hook