DJ King is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Highland High School for AZPreps365.com.

The Highland Hawks girls soccer team prevailed in a soggy second round game Thursday night, becoming the first team to shut out Hamilton Huskies in a 3-0 win.

A rare rainfall in the Valley of the Sun poured throughout the game, though Highland refused to let it faze them. Hawks senior forward Lillie Scott was proud of how her teammates kept their poise despite the unusual conditions.

“We just trust our touch and just put everything into it. We didn’t care about the weather, we just played through it,” Scott said.

Scott scored the first of the Hawks’ goals into the net within the first four minutes, and then standout freshman forward Maizey Pratt netted the other two before the halftime buzzer sounded. Highland head coach Brigette Tarwater-Fioresi said the fast start on offense allowed the Hawks to play comfortably the rest of the game.

"That set the tone for the rest of the game, the intensity that drove from there was, to me, what gauged the rest of the game,” Tarwater-Fioresi said.

Though the offense stalled in the second half, the defense remained impressive throughout the game. Hamilton was held scoreless for the first time all season, in large part thanks to a dominant performance from freshman goalkeeper Shalee Dove, who had six saves. Tarwater-Fioresi said the team had complete trust in Dove’s abilities, and it helped the rest of the team to trust in themselves.

“The team has the utmost confidence and respect in her game, and I think because of that it makes our defense stronger,” she said.

Senior center back Penny Groebe reiterated that confidence the team has in its backline, and the amount it matters to how the entire team feels and moves.

“I have a lot of trust in the people that we’re playing with. We did a really good job and we stepped up,” she said.

Highland’s two leading scorers, Pratt and sophomore forward Brenli McEuen, are underclassmen. With a freshman in Dove anchoring the defense, the starting lineup is relatively young. Despite the inexperience, the Hawks went 10-2 overall and are in the quarterfinals of the Open Division bracket. Tarwater-Fioresi said the unity and trust in each other is what has made this Highland team so special. 

“Focusing on our strengths as a team and actually coming up as a family, you really focus on the trust that we have in each other.”

The Hawks now move forward into the quarterfinals of the Open Division to face fourth-seeded Perry in an away-game on Feb. 18. If they win, they could still host a semifinal game if eighth-seeded Notre Dame Prep defeats top-seeded Casteel in their quarterfinal game.

The Open Division has been rife with upsets so far, as 22nd-seeded Crismon and 18th-seeded Basha are also moving on to the quarterfinals. With chaos across the bracket, Highland is in position to take advantage and make a deep run.