No. 16 seed Desert Vista continued its season-long, scratch-and-claw-survival trait on Saturday afternoon, rallying from a goal down to a late, controversial 2-1 victory over No. 8 Campo Verde in a Division I boys quarterfinal match at Camp Verde. 

Desert Vista (8-9-2) advances to the semifinals on Wednesday (Feb. 10) to face No. 4 Gilbert, a 5-1 winner over Tolleson,  at 7 p.m. at Campo Verde HS. Desert Vista hung on to the final playoff spot after losing its season finale to Tolleson, 1-0. The Thunder bounced top-seed Brophy earlier this week going to PKs for a 2-1 win. They scored twice in the final 15 minutes on Saturday  to snare their latest triumph.

"I think this team finally believes," Desert Vista coach Mark Wilson said. "It's a been a tug of war between me and them. Their idea of what to do and mine are different. I want them to be creative. We've taken up the Why Not Us (T-shirts worn by the players) motto. And here we are. In the semifinals."

Campo Verde, which scored its goal (John Halter from Colton Shafer) in the 13th minute, didn't give up the tying goal until the 65 minute. Desert Vista's Max Wennes, in traffic in the box, got off a shot that slipped through the hands of keeper Justin Zimmerman at the goal mouth and trickled in for the tie.

Eleven minutes later came the controversial game-winnner. Desert Vista's Kunal Thakkar, who scored the tying goal that eventually forced PKs vs. Brophy, let fly with a corner. It was jostled around and eventually covered by Zimmerman. Zimmerman was contacted and the ball slipped out of his hands and crossed the goal-mouth, according to officials. Campo Verde was irate.

"I told our players to get next to (Zimmerman)," Wilson said. "I didn't think he had good hands. When he grabbed it he was facing his goal, and he dropped it in."

Campo Verde (17-5-2) claimed Zimmerman was contacted after making the intial grab and felt a foul should have been called. Earlier in the half a Campo player was given a yellow card for bumping Desert Vista's keeper. after making a save.

"The worst officiated game I've seen," Campo Verde coach Drew Guarneri said. "They made it a bad game.

"We let Desert Vista hang around. And then the referees decided it.

When the game was over, 11 cards had been issued, including two reds to Campo Verde -- one to an assistant coach and one to a Campo player. At times coaching staffs looked at each other in disbelief with calls that were made.

An ecstatic Thakkar didn't pay any attention to the controversy.

"Last week we weren't supposed to make the playoffs," Thakkar said. "Now were in the semifinals."