No. 7 Catalina Foothills beat No. 10 Liberty 3-2 in overtime Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Division II state playoffs where the Falcons will face No. 2 Willow Canyon.

It was mostly a night of dominating opportunities, with the Falcons outshooting the Wildcats 19-3, but, while the shots kept coming for Catalina Foothills, the Wildcats connected on two of their three shots.  Sophomore forward Payton Younger put Liberty up 1-0 in the 21st minute and that score stood until sophomore Meghan Hawkins scored the equalizer in the 58th.

Liberty (17-4-1) started out the season with 12 straight wins and took No. 2 Willow Canyon to the wire on a 2-1 loss last Wednesday despite having a roster packed with freshmen and sophomores.

Head coach Erin McRae feels her team exceeded all expectations. "They are very unified although definitely very young," McRae explained.

"We knew during tryouts that this team could win every game. Any mistakes we made were because of youth but every victory and success was a delight. They are a great group of girls. They really are," she added.

As mentioned before, her players are also very efficient. Junior forward Brooke Nelson found fellow junior Payton Maxwell in the 64th to give Catalina Foothills a 2-1 lead but Haley German tied the game back up 2-2 in the 75th. But the Wildcats just didn't have enough chances to finish the game.

The Falcons put together 19 shots and a few of those came off the foot of freshman sensation Tatianna Lizarraga.  Lizarraga had a breakaway shot in the final moments of regulation but it was off the mark. She found redemption in overtime.

"It was a game of constant goal shooting," Lizarraga said. "We just weren't making them. I finally got another  chance with the help of my teammates on a great pass and I finished it."

Lizarraga scored the winner seven minutes into the first overtime period and that goal stood up for the 3-2 win.

Catalina Foothills (15-4-2) spent a few weeks outside of the top 16 and a playoff berth looked like a long shot at one point but four straight wins at the end of the regular season vaulted the Falcons to No. 7 and a chance to host a first-round match. That also meant, however, a win would send them to a higher opponent in the quarterfinal round.

No. 2 Willow Canyon defeated No. 15 Mesquite 4-0 to set up that quarterfinal match on Saturday.

 

The complete playoff brackets can be found HERE.