The initial set of AIA power rankings for soccer were released on Tuesday and one oddity showed the Salpointe girls, at 1-1 heading into last night, out of the Open Division at No. 36 and No. 11 in the 4A Conference. The two matches played by the Lancers were the fewest matches played by all the teams ranked in the top 48 from 4A, 5A and 6A but that all changed after the Lancers beat Catalina Foothills 2-0 Tuesday night to move to 2-1 on the year.

The Falcons (3-2) came in ranked No. 17 in the Open Division and No. 7 in the 5A Conference. The only loss that counted at the time was a 2-0 setback to Open No. 2 Buena a little more than a month ago. Salpointe suffered a 4-2 loss to Open  No. 3 Perry on Dec. 12. The power rankings only take into account matches played in the regular season, not those from invitationals. The bulk of the matches played by the Lancers up to this point were played in two invitationals but one of those matches was a loss to Buena in PKs (7-6) at the Kelly Pierce Tournament on Dec. 5.

Expect the rankings for all levels to even out as teams get into region play and the number of matches played by each program also evens out in the process. The rankings will be updated every day from Tuesday through Friday during the regular season.

In the match Tuesday night, Salpointe junior Jhianae DesRosier scored in the 33rd minute and again in the 65th to provide the 2-0 margin over Catalina Foothills at home. The Lancers took three shots in the first half and the Falcons took two but Salpointe exploded with nine shots in the second half compared to one by Catalina Foothills.

Salpointe will travel to 6A No. 31 Tucson (1-3) on Thursday night and Catalina Foothills will visit 5A Sonoran Region opponent No. 28 Maricopa (2-3) on Jan. 20.