Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

On Tuesday, February 23rd, the Chandler Prep Titans celebrated their seniors in a senior night game against the Benjamin Franklin Chargers. After a scoreless 70 minutes of play, the Titans put one in net and continued to protect their goal winning 1-0.

Offensively, the Titans put a lot of pressure on the Charger defense with several well-executed attacks. One of Chandler Prep’s top scorers, senior Amanda Stoft, however, was forced frequently to the touchlines, making on-target shots rare and easily blocked by the opposing goalie. Sophomore forward Ali Estrada attacked the goal several times alone attempting and sometimes succeeding to beat the defense with speed. Unfortunately, similar to Stoft, Estrada’s shots were often slightly off target.

The Titans ability to play through the midfield was in question throughout the first half with several turnovers happening in transition. Going into the second half, both Estrada and Stoft were more consistently on target and all the Titans did a better job handling the ball in the midfield. Head Coach Vilaboy says the team made changes after the first half:

“I basically told them that they had to be first to the ball and that we had to go out wide. We were crowding in the middle too much and losing the ball in the middle, so we made changes to get the ball to our outside backs like Lauren (Golda) and Mia (Rodriguez). That helped us get the ball at least into the offensive half where we can have a chance. That was the biggest change.”

With ten minutes left in the game, Estrada dribbled down field outrunning the Charger midfielders. She passed to Stoft, who avoided losing the ball by the corner arc, dribbling to the right corner of the penalty box for the shot, the goal, and the win on senior night.

Junior Gracie Cornelius and Sophomore Lilley Hunt-Gonzales excelled defensively for the Titans in never allowing for a true breakaway by the Chargers. The one time the Benjamin Franklin offense got passed the Chandler Prep’s defense, positioned perfectly for a shot past the Titan goalie, the Charger forward’s shot was off target, hitting the left post of the goal.

Chandler Prep plays their final home game against the Gilbert Classical Spartans on March 1st at 5:00pm. Titan Up.