I-A GIRLS SOCCER: Faith Lutheran’s Rohkohl breaks through, gives Crusaders title

It was a defensive battle for most of the Division I-A Southern Region girls soccer championship game.

Faith Lutheran’s Brenna Rohnkohl decided to crash the party in the 60th minute Saturday afternoon at Heritage Park.

The junior took a cross from Kristi Chinn and lasered it past Sierra Vista goalkeeper Jayla Olson into the bottom right corner of the net for the game’s only goal to give the Crusaders the region title.

Both teams advance to next week’s state tournament at Heritage Park.

“Brenna had a nice shot on that one, and (it was) a great ball by Kristi,” Faith Lutheran coach Steve Morrill said. “It was kind of a fortunate circumstance. Brenna came over to get some prewrap during the break and I was like, ‘Get out there, get out there.’ She made a rough first touch on it, and then had a nice curling shot in the lower corner.”

Faith Lutheran, which has played in 10 games decided by one-goal this season, was in a familiar position holding a slim lead late. The Crusaders (18-6-3) got solid contributions on defense from Brooke Nigro and Kayla Murai to outlast the Mountain Lions (11-5-2).

“That’s kind of been our M.O. all season,” Morrill said. “We’ve only had a couple games where we’ve scored a lot of goals. Most of our games are one, two, three goals at most. I was hoping to squeak a couple more in there to make it a little more smoother … They played a heck of a game and definitely challenged us.”

Morrill praised Nigro for her work, especially in containing Sierra Vista standout Sophia Omidiji.

“Brooke Nigro has been kind of a stalwart for us all year,” Morrill said. “She’s a very skilled player. She’s a really good finesse player. She does an excellent job of shielding the ball and she’s very intelligent on when she has to clear or possess it.”

Faith Lutheran goalkeeper Beka Lescenski made a key save with less than five minutes remaining to preserve the win. Sierra Vista’s Calista Reyes sent a free kick in from 30 yards out on target, but Lescenski stepped in front and corralled it. Lescenski, who finished with nine saves, recorded her seventh shutout of the season.

“She played a heck of a game today,” Morrill said. “That was probably her best game of the year. She played a great game and made some great reads. She played some great, physical soccer, too. She had a couple hard knocks in there.”

Olson made five saves for the Mountain Lions.

“They’re a solid team,” Morrill said. “The first game we had against them this year was not indicative of how good they are. It was kind of a lopsided win. The second game, we went to their place and it was a battle so I didn’t expect anything less today. They’re a hard-nosed, physical team.”