No. 2 Salpointe used constant pressure to defeat No. 3 Coconino 2-0 Tuesday night at home to advance to another 4A state championship match to be played Friday at Mesa High School against No. 1 Crismon. Crismon beat No. 4 Saguaro 3-1 in the other semifinal match. The whistle will blow at 4 p.m. in the first championship match ever played by Crismon compared to the 18th final day appearance by the Lancers, including 11 championships dating back to 1990 and seven since 2017.

Salpointe (17-6) beat Prescott 1-0 last winter to win the sixth championship under former head coach Kelly Pierce, who passed away last August at the age of 44 from a heart condition, and Crismon (19-4-2) beat Prescott 3-2 in the second round of the Open division where the Rattlers lost to eventual Open champion Xavier Prep 8-0 in the quarterfinals. Under the rules of the Open Division, Prescott was sent back to the 4A tournament as the top seed and the Lancers were the second seed.

While Salpointe has a storied background, Crismon opened up for soccer competition in the 2022-2023 school year and the program made a rapid climb to the top seed in 2025 after losing in the first round of the 3A ranks in 2023, the 3A quarterfinal round in 2024 and the Open Division quarterfinal round in 2025.

Coconino (18-4-1) lost 2-0 to Salpointe last year in the quarterfinal round and the Panthers had a difficult time putting up an offense against the Lancer defense Tuesday night with the Lancers coming away with a 10-3 shot on goal advantage. Still, the Lancers failed to find the net despite the constant pressure until junior Jhianae DesRosier found sophomore Loren Raney in the 61st minute for a 1-0 lead.

Instead of packing it in for defense, the Lancers continued to force the issue with DesRosier scoring in the 77th minute to put the match away at 2-0.  This will be the first championship final for Lancer head coach Jessica Rushton but Rattler head coach John Roberts led Higley to a state championship in 2006 and he has four state runner-up finishes with his last coming in 2022 with Perry.