During halftime of Tuesday’s game, the parents of Pinnacle’s seniors joined their daughters on the field, carrying gifts as they held the hands of their daughters.

The stands were filled with cheering friends and family as they congratulated the girls on a hard fought regular season. Their season isn’t over, however.

Pinnacle’s girls soccer team (11-3-5 overall, 3-0-2 region) took on Mountain Ridge (5-10-2 overall, 0-4-2 section) on the eve of the playoffs, with hopes of improving its power ranking standing. But Pinnacle’s attention was also on an annual high school tradition, Senior Night.

The game announcer spoke about the aspirations of the girls and plans they had after high school as the seniors stood on the field with their parents. Many have chosen the traditional path of college, others seemed to be weighing their options.

The night was emotional for the parents as well as the players who were leaving their fellow teammates for college. When asked what she meant to her team, Pinnacle senior captain Carly Goehring answered, “I’d like to think I play a big leadership role for my teammates.” 

As the game resumed, Goehring displayed her leadership, making three key defensive stops during the second half. Those plays provided Pinnacle with countless opportunities to capitalize on, but, in the end, the game ended in a tie.

Unfortunately, accuracy and turnovers plagued Pinnacle’s chances of securing more than a just a scoreless draw. Pinnacle had a total of four shots hit the crossbar in the first half, as Mountain Ridge continuously was pushed back to defend.  

Pinnacle head coach Suzanne Kirchner said after the game that her team needs to “focus on turnovers and get the ball in the back of the net.”

Pinnacle attempted a total of 27 shots at goal, with six corner kicks leading to failed headers.

The frustration showed throughout the game, leading to rough tackling and shoving between both sides. In the end, both teams walked off the field with high spirits after high-fiving each other.

Their regular seasons were over. The time to continue being around loved ones on this special night was upon them again.

“I plan to say ‘hi’ to family and friends,” said Goehring when asked what her plans were after the game.

On the sideline, after the game, Pinnacle star forward Kindall Kaufmann talked about her future beyond high school. Kaufmann was excited to share that she committed to Scottsdale Community College.

According to Kaufmann, playing soccer was “always the dream.” Kaufmann hopes to someday play for the U.S. National Women's team and also becoming an athletic trainer.

On Mountain Ridge’s side, many seniors may have experienced their last game.

Before players headed to the bus, Mountain Ridge head coach Doug Evans took time to talk about the game.

Mountain Ridge, ranked 23^rd in the power rankings Wednesday, had a strong chance of clinching one of the last play-in game berths.

“I hope a tie helps,” Evans said.

Mountain Ridge and its seniors will get to play at least one more game. The squad earned the No. 22 seed in the 6A Conference play-in bracket and will play No. 11 Gilbert Thursday.

Pinnacle earned one of the eight automatic state seeds and will know Friday during the bracket show which seed it earned and the team it will play in the first round.

Tsatskin is a sports journalism student at Arizona State and is covering Pinnacle this semester.