No. 1 Salpointe beat No. 12 Walden Grove 6-3 Wednesday night at home to advance to the 4A Conference state championship match for the fifth year in a row, having won it all the previous four seasons. The Lancers have a state-leading 11 championship trophies dating back to 1985, all under head coach Wolfgang Weber, who leads the state with 793 career victories. Salpointe will play No. 3 Saguaro at 1 p.m. at Mesa Mountain View. The Sabercats lost to Salpointe 4-1 in the 2023 championship match.

The Lancers beat Tolleson 5-0 in the first round of the Open Division before falling to Sunnyside 3-0 in the second round, which sent the Lancers back to the 4A playoffs. The Lancers beat No. 16 Douglas 8-0 in the first round and No. 8 Cactus Shadows 8-0 in the quarterfinal round to set up the semifinal with Walden Grove. Saguaro lost to Catalina Foothills in the first round of the Open Division, beat No. 14 Dysart 2-0 to start off the 4A bracket, beat Westview 5-0 in the quarterfinal round and then outlasted No. 7 Mica Mountain 2-1 in the other semifinal. Mica Mountain took second place to Salpointe last year by a score of 4-2.

Leo Gutierrez scored two goals for Salpointe against Walden Grove to give him a state-record 172 career goals. His teammate Emiliano Castro recorded a hat trick to give him 23 goals on the year and Santiago Perez scored in the 77th for the sixth goal. The Red Wolves picked up a couple of goals from Nicolas Castillo and Esteban Aguirre scored with about 16 seconds left for the 6-3 final.