On an unseasonably hot February day, with temperatures soaring above 90 degrees, it wasn't surprising that water became the theme for the 5A girls soccer state championship match between No. 3 seed Arizona College Prep and No. 5 Notre Dame Prep.

But it wasn’t for the reason you might think.

While the teams did take scheduled water breaks to avoid dehydration, it was the calming approach Notre Dame Prep coach Mike Varela imparted to his team that drew the water analogy.

“One thing our coach always told us this year is to take a deep breath, be water and I think we really did that today,” said Saints’ junior Sophie Grindall, whose header with 29:29 left in the second half proved to be the only goal of the game.

The 1-0 win for the Saints (19-8) was the fifth girls’ soccer state title in school history and the second in the past three years.

Grindall was a freshman on that championship squad two years ago, a team that also featured her sister Chloe who was a senior captain.

“One wasn’t enough, I had to come back for another,” said a smiling Grindall.

The match was tightly contested throughout, with the Knights (14-5) matching shots for much of the match, but most of the scoring chances were by the Saints.

At the center of the action was Notre Dame’s Whitney Ladich. The senior blasted shots just over the crossbar on three separate occasions, including two in the second half, but was unable to break the scoreless tie before the Saints finally got their payoff on the Grindall goal off a perfectly placed corner off the foot of senior Elsa Delord.

“We had a few tough matches against Casteel and Campo (Verde), and then we had long bus rides to Salpointe and Buena, but I think it gave us time together to get closer and say “Hey, I think we can do this,’” Varela said.

In an earlier season matchup, it was Arizona College Prep who came away with a 1-0 win, despite facing 10 Notre Dame shots. But that contest featured senior goalkeeper Aubrey Maruska for the Knights, who went down with a season-ending injury, giving way to Emily Balcius in the title tilt.

The frosh played admirably in the state finals match. For Knights’ head coach Matthew Davis, losses are never fun, but he is excited to see the growth the program has made in an abbreviated period of time.

“This is only the second year for us in 5A and we have been to the finals both years, so I think that is really something to say for our team,” Davis stated. “The next step is we go to 6A next year and we try and finish.”