The fog never actually rolled in, it sort of settled on the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains before briefly giving way to sprinkles before reasserting itself in the form of wind and chill. The majestic atmosphere was befitting of the duel on the pitch below but the resulting 1-1 tie between power-programs Salpointe (3-0-1) and Catalina Foothills (3-0-1) had many wanting more and a few wanting less.

Nothing was decided after 100 minutes of play, other than the observation that, at any moment, there were 22 of the best players on the pitch and several of the best coaches offering them direction, but that was always obvious. The final buzzer came with a reality that three of the of the very best Southern Arizona has to offer had to be assisted off the pitch. That was something we could have lived without but players giving everything was also expected and that is something we also cannot live without.

The Falcons and Lancers battled each other twice a year since 2016 with Salpointe winning the first four but, since 2018, the two teams have identical 2-2-2 records. The biggest win in the series between the two was the 2-1 overtime win for the Lancers in the 2019 4A state championship match. No. 5 Catalina Foothills dispatched No. 4 Flagstaff 4-0 in the quarterfinal round that year and then No. 1 Thunderbird 4-0 in the semifinals while No. 3 Salpointe demolished No. 2 Arcadia 4-0 in the other semifinal to set up that championship.

That overtime victory was one of four matches between the two that needed extra time and that included the match Friday night at Catalina Foothills. The Falcons returned to the 4A state final last year but the team lost to Flagstaff in PKs (4-2). Flagstaff beat Salpointe in PKs (3-2) in the semifinal round. The two teams were denied a state final rematch and it turns out that was the last chance for a playoff rematch for at least a couple of years.

The Falcons were bumped up to the 5A Conference this season and the Lancers remain in 4A play. The match Friday night will be the only one of the year between the two unless the programs need to fill an open spot to reach the required seven matches to qualify for the state playoffs. Under the playoff rules for this year, Catalina Foothills has to finish ranked in the top 16 and Salpointe can either win the 4A Kino Region or finish in the top16 to gain a state berth.

As of Friday afternoon, Catalina Foothills is ranked No. 4 in the 5A Conference and Salpointe is No. 5 in 4A. It will be interesting to see how a tie will hurt or help each team when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Caitlyn Maher put Catalina Foothills up 1-0 in the 6th minute on an open net and it looked like that score would hold up the rest of the way with Falcons keeper Flavia Burrell turning the Lancers back on several seemingly sure tries. A penalty from Trinity Morales tied things up in the 77th and the match went two ten-minute periods. The Lancers outshot the Falcons 4-0 in overtime but Burrell recorded two big saves in the extra periods including a shot with seconds remaining from freshman Christina Malovich that might have found net against any other keeper. Burrell stands near 6-feet and she stopped the try with stretched arms.

Catalina Foothills hosts Tucson (2-2) on Monday, Feb. 15 and Salpointe is slated to host Sunnyside (1-1) on Tuesday.

Annie Tacey (18) and Trinity Morales (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)