Brophy and Hamilton were the dominant big-school soccer programs in the recently completed decade (2010-2019). Each school participated in six state title games the last 10 years with Brophy winning four and Hamilton two.

They've started the new decade perhaps on the same course as they met Friday night with the 6A Premier Region title on the line.

No. 1 Brophy played its game and No. 2 Hamilton its brand, but the Broncos prevailed with the game-winning goal late in the second half for a 2-1 win at Hamilton High.

Brophy, the defending 6A champs, capped the regular season with a 17-2-1 record and did not lose a power-ranking match (11-0-1). The Broncos are assured a state tournament berth as is Hamilton. The Huskies are 12-3-4 overall and 9-1-2 in power-ranking matches.

Brophy's winning goal came in the 65th minute. The Broncos penchant for possession and good ball-handling offered them several set pieces throughout the match. The one they converted on was a follow off a corner by Nate Craft, who delivered a laser shot inside the box for the win.

"With the players we have I feel there's no reason not to play possession," Brophy coach Paul Allen said. "Coming over here and winning is not easy. It never is. We made a few adjustments in the second half, but we played the way we wanted to."

Hamilton coach Lance Thompson couldn't find fault with his team's play in the tough loss. The Huskies trailed 1-0 after Brophy's Logan Abele buried a bullet from about 25 yards out in the 16th minute. Hamilton took some time to answer, but did in the 37th minute. They beat Hamilton in transition with junior Riley Lynch feeding sophomore Luke Schaefer for the equalizer. Schaefer leads Hamilton this season with 13 goals.

"Both their goals were high level," Thompson said. "The first one especially. It was how great (Abele) was at the moment....

"They are a solid team. They bounced it around on us. The bottom line is they were better at what they do than we were at what we do."

Hamilton had one chance to tie after Craft's goal. The Huskies' Josh Martinez was awarded a free kick from about 30 yards out. The shot was high and caromed off the crossbar. It  ricocheted in the box where the Broncos were able to clear it.

Brophy and Hamilton won't play again until the first-round of the state tournament on Saturday Feb. 15. Both will host matches to be determined after the play-in games which will be played on Thursday Feb. 13.