Saturday’s 2A girls soccer state championship final at Mesa High turned into a match for the ages.

Literally and figurately.

Underclassmen all over both rosters contributed mightily to this tightly fought contest that Phoenix Country Day ultimately won 2-1 over Glendale Prep, with the match being decided in the fifth round of kicks in the extra session.

It was the first soccer state title for the Eagles in school history.

The Eagles (13-2), who entered the contest as the tournament’s No. 1 seed, were looking to avenge an early season 3-1 loss to the No. 2 seed. And after being on their collective heels for much of regulation, the Eagles managed to get back to what got them to the top of the regular season mountain.

During overtime, they slowed down the Griffins and top-gun frosh Naomi Burge while applying offensive pressure of their own, eventually forcing the match into penalty kicks. That is when Phoenix Country Day’s frosh goalie Natalia Re stepped up big-time.

In the fifth round of kicks, Re stonewalled a Griffin shooter to seal the 2-1 state title. Re also blocked another PK in the shootout. 

The Eagles only missed one PK attempt. 

“I was just so locked in. I didn’t realize we won. I was just ready for the next kick,” said Re after her delayed reaction to the win. “I mean, I thought it could come down to PK's the way it was going. I am just glad we won. It’s the best-case scenario for me. I am just happy I get to do what I love.”

The Griffins (17-1) came into the tilt supremely confident, outscoring their last twelve opponents by an astonishing 91-3 margin. Right on cue, the young Glendale Prep squad put a huge amount of pressure on the Phoenix Country Day defense, much of it coming from forwards Burge and sophomore Cameryn Block, who had several big scoring chances throughout the first half.

Burge finally broke the scoreless tie with just .9 seconds left before halftime when she flew 40-plus yards up the left side and beat Re for a 1-0 Griffins’ lead heading into the break.

“We definitely put it all out there. I thought we definitely could have gotten more goals, but in the end we didn’t,” Burge said.

The phenom finished the season with 57 goals, including eight in the postseason.

But the Eagles used their stellar defense to clamp down on her while drawing the match even just over five minutes into the second half. That is when senior Rachel Burns found the back of the net for a 1-1 tie.

The game remained even through the duration of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods before going to kicks, where seven made goals were recorded, including by Burns, Emerson Schultz (So.), Dylan Tedesco (Fr.) and Mady Nakaji (Jr.) for Phoenix Country Day and Burge, Calliah Som (Sr.) and Audra Michael (Fr.) for the Griffins.

“(Glendale Prep) has very fast skilled wingers. If they get the ball we are chasing,” explained Phoenix Country Day school coach Gabriel Penaloza. “I told our girls we have to keep the ball on their side, away from their very dangerous players, and that is what we finally did, and it paid off.”