Seniors dominate list of elite selections
Here is The Arizona Republic’s All-Arizona girls soccer team, along with honorable mentions for the 2021-22 winter season. The Player of the Year will be selected from these nominees and announced after the school year as part of The Republic and azcentral.com Arizona High School Sports Awards. Also included is the Republic’s Coach of the Year selection.
Jazmin Brown, Basha, D, Sr.
Brown was named the AIA’s 6A Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Brown helped lead the Bears to a 13-8-2 season and an automatic qualification to the first round of playoffs.
Northland Prep
Mollie Donahue, Academy, MF, So.
Donahue led her team in goals with 25 and had 16 assists. Donahue helped the Spartans end the season with a 19-3 record.
Kate Faasse, Pinnacle, F, Sr.
Faasse was named the AIA’s 6A Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led her team in goals and assists with 31 and 12, respectively.
Avery Fletcher, Chaparral, GK, Sr.
Fletcher had shutouts in an impressive 11 games this season and had 157 saves for the Firebirds. Chaparral ended the season with a 14-5-2 record and made it to the quarterfinal round of playoffs, losing to Xavier Prep, the 6A champion.
Keali Foster, Sunrise Mountain, D, Jr.
Foster was named the AIA’s 5A Conference Defensive Player of the Year and helped her team to the state championship game, the school’s first appearance in program history.
Maegen Hill, Centennial, F, Jr.
Hill led the 5A conference in assists (30) and points (88) and had the thirdmost goals with 29. Her 30 assists were the highest in the state. Hill also helped Centennial into the quarterfinal round of playoffs, where it lost to Casteel, the 5A state champion.
Ellie Johannes, Northwest F, Jr.
Christian,
Johannes had a staggering 56 goals in 17 games and led the Crusaders to their second-straight 3A state title. Johannes also led the 3A conference in goals and was named the 3A Conference Player of the Year. Her 56 goals led the entire state -- with the next highest being 47.
Lindsey Lumm, Verrado, GK, Sr.
Lumm had the most saves in the 5A conference with 146 — 11 more than the next highest player.
Ella Osmussen, Notre Dame Prep, MF, Sr.
Osmussen scored 33 goals for the Saints. Notre Dame Prep was ranked the No. 1 seed in the 4A conference with a 20-3 record and appeared in the state championship game, but lost to Salpointe Catholic on penalty kicks.
Delin Peterson, Benjamin Franklin, F, Fr.
Peterson was the second-ranked scorer in the 3A conference with 102 points, behind Johannes. Peterson helped the Chargers receive the No.1 seed at the end of regular season play and took them to the semifinal round of playoffs. Peterson had 42 goals on the season.
Meredith Scott, Walden Grove, MF, Sr.
Scott had the second-most points scored and goals in the state with 117 and 47, respectively. Scott also helped her team reach the semifinal round of the 4A playoffs.
Tatum Thomason, Liberty, F, Sr.
Thomason had 39 goals on 132 shots and 20 assists this season. Thomason was named the AIA’s 6A Conference Player of the Year. She helped the Lions remain the No. 1 ranked team in the conference for a majority of the regular season and scored five of the team’s seven goals in postseason play.
Honorable mentions
Trinity Morales, Salpointe; Paris Makinski, Salpointe; Shea Daniels, Chino Valley; Ellie Otto; St. John’s; Paige Christakos, Chaparral; Kiley Connery, Liberty; Sydney Snowden, Perry; Talia Coury, Xavier Prep; Kiersten Smith, Desert Vista; Anna Kramarczyk, Maricopa; Siera Herbert, Perry; Jannice Loya, Maryvale; Jaimie Rusnak, Red Mountain; Sami
Fisher, Chaparral; Lexi Saveski, Perry; Bella Leonard, Xavier Prep; Jae Pallas, Perry; Raegan Richardson, Queen Creek; Ava Wheaton, Casteel; Rebekah Eicher, Campo Verde; Shania Walters, Cienega; Nathalie Lewis, Casteel; Alexis Kreipke, Campo Verde; Paige Garcia, Willow Canyon; Leslie Duarte, Centennial; Aliya Garret, Sunrise Mountain; Jamie Brandon, Centennial; Juliana Reyes, Millennium; Schaye Sisk, Sunrise Mountain; Grace Torok, Yuma Catholic; Makenzi Wisely, Northwest Christian; Kylee Brotherton, Sabino; Leah Nunley, ALA - Ironwood; Riley Brown, Valley Christian; Tatym Hawkins, Safford; Chloë Miller, ALA - Gilbert North; Caroline Rustand, Sabino; Erin Holt, Benjamin Franklin; Belle Floyd, Northwest Christian; Ryan Gonzalez, ALA - Gilbert North
Coach of the Year
Kelly Pierce, Tucson Salpointe Catholic
Over the past six seasons, Salpointe has been a perennial 4A power, winning titles from 201719 and ‘21, the last three under Pierce. But unlike previous seasons, the Lancers ran into a few more potholes in 2022 and entered the state tournament as the No. 7 seed. What then transpired may have been Pierce’s best coaching job yet, as the team beat No. 10 Kingman Lee Williams, No. 2 Flagstaff and No. 6 Sahuarita Walden Grove in the playoffs. Then, in the championship game, Salpointe knocked off No. 1 seed Scottsdale Notre Dame with a stunning comeback that ended in a penalty kick shootout. “We peaked when we needed them to and they really stepped in and dug deep and you could tell they wanted it,” Pierce said of the Lancers..