The contrasting styles of No. 9 Sunnyside and No. 8 Salpointe clashed for the first time in a state playoff game Friday night when the rivals met in the new Open State Championship tournament at Ed Doherty Stadium.
The Blue Devils stood alongside boisterous coach Casey O’Brien the entire match, shouting, dancing and chanting while the Lancers were reserved with a look of determination, sitting on the bench next to veteran coach Wolfgang Weber most of the evening.
“Keep the energy up; don’t stop,” O’Brien said to his reserves as much as he yelled to his players on the field.
Sunnyside had much to be exuberant about, scoring the first goals within two minutes of each other starting at the 18-minute mark and went on to subdue Salpointe and prolific scorer Leo Gutierrez in the 3-0 victory.
“We knew what we wanted to do in this game, the performance we wanted to put on is exactly what we did,” O’Brien said. “We just wanted to come out and win definitively and move on. I think this is a mark for who the best team in Tucson is right now. I’m just really proud that it’s us.”
O’Brien can stake that claim with Sunnyside (21-3) being the lone Southern Arizona team to advance to the Open Division quarterfinals, where it will play at No. 1 Phoenix Pinnacle (18-1-2) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The Blue Devils have the opportunity to again avenge an earlier loss this season.
They lost 2-0 to Salpointe in the championship of the Brandon Bean Invitational at Doherty Stadium on Dec. 6 and fell short 4-3 against Pinnacle in the title game of the Holiday Extravaganza Soccer Tournament at Mesa on Dec. 30.
“As a team, we’re very confident going into that game,” said senior forward Johan Jimenez, who scored Sunnyside’s last goal Friday night. “Obviously, Pinnacle is a really good opponent. We’re going to try our best and hopefully everything will come out to (our) plan.
“We’ve worked so hard to this point. I don’t see why not that we’ll win.”
Sunnyside senior Johan Jimenez scored the last of the Blue Devils’ goals in their 3-0 win over rival Salpointe in the Open Division second round game. Sunnyside will next play in the quarterfinals at No. 1 Phoenix Pinnacle on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/fYjp6uZtKP
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 15, 2025
The high level of confidence Sunnyside exudes comes completely from O’Brien, who believed so much in his basketball skills coming from San Diego that he tried to walk-on to Lute Olson’s program at Arizona in 2005.
Injuries precluded him from joining the Wildcats, but he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Arizona in 2009 in physical education and training and coaching with the desire to become a coach.
He had no soccer background when he began coaching Summit View Elementary School’s team — because another coach could not be found — while teaching there after earning his degree at Arizona.
Soccer grew on him and the Sunnyside community’s passion for the sport has grown immensely because of O’Brien’s ability to coach, teach and motivate on and off the field.
To wit: In the nine years before O’Brien became Sunnyside’s coach in 2015, the Blue Devils were 1-9-1 against Weber and Salpointe. Since his hire, Sunnyside is 10-6-1 against the Lancers.
Legendary Salpointe coach Wolfgang Weber’s team lost to visiting Sunnyside 3-0 in the Open Division second round game tonight. Weber stated his team can now set its sights on a fifth straight 4A state championship, a feat that has never been accomplished. He also mentioned that… pic.twitter.com/7z83eTHqCO
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 15, 2025
“All the credit to Sunnyside; they were ready and they played us well,” said Weber, who has amassed 783 victories and 11 state championships since he started at Salpointe in 1982.
“They kept Leo in check by doubling up on him. All the credit to them, and of course Casey has a fantastic program and I wish him all the best in the Open Division. We, next Monday, have to start to get ready for trying to get a fifth one (state title) in a row in 4A.”
Winning a fifth championship consecutively has never happened.
The beauty of the Open Division is the ability of those who lose in the first two rounds, such as Salpointe, are afforded the opportunity to compete in their conference state tournament.
The new Open Division also provided Southern Arizona soccer fans the opportunity to see the best two programs over the last decade — Sunnyside and Salpointe — battle in the postseason for the first time because the Blue Devils are in the 6A and the Lancers in the 4A.
The game also featured two of the top forwards in the history of high school soccer in Southern Arizona — Gutierrez and Sunnyside senior Angel Bracamontes-Pulido.
Bracamontes-Pulido scored his 32nd goal of the season, his 81st in his career — a 6A state record.
It was the game’s first goal, at the 18-minute, occurring after a volley of kicks near the goal.
Gutierrez, who scored four goals in Salpointe’s 5-0 win over Phoenix Tolleson on Wednesday, was held scoreless by Sunnyside for only the second time this season.
He has the state record with 165 career goals. He also has the 4A record at 54 goals this season. He has accumulated 25 hat tricks in his career.
Sunnyside coach Casey O’Brien is a remarkable 10-6-1 against Salpointe and legendary Wolfgang Weber since his hire in 2015. In the nine years before he became coach, Sunnyside was 1-9-1 against the Lancers. The Blue Devils beat their rivals 3-0 in the Open Division second round… pic.twitter.com/oPRJ0mvRhE
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 15, 2025
“Our defense is on another level right now,” O’Brien said. “This is two games in a row I felt like our defense was out there having an amazing performance (Sunnyside beat visiting Gilbert 1-0 on Wednesday).
“This time, it was everybody. Our keeper (Miggy Lugo) had big saves. Our center-backs did an amazing job on Leo. Our outside backs were amazing — our whole defense. And our center defensive mid Adrian Jimenez is just a stud. Our defense is really clicking at the right time.”
Two minutes after Bracamontes-Pulido’s goal, senior Dieggo Resendiz scored against stunned Salpointe.
After Johan Jimenez’s goal at the 57-minute mark increased the lead to 3-0, Salpointe had a chance to score three minutes later but Lugo denied Salpointe’s best attack of the night with a save 10 yards in front of the goal.
At the 70-minute mark, a penalty-kick attempt by the Lancers sailed over the top of the goal.
“It was a difficult game; I thought we actually played pretty well,” Weber said. “The 3-0 score is not a true reflection of what happened here tonight. We were a little bit unfortunate. I thought we had in the second half a couple of big-time chances.
“Credit to the goalkeeper for Sunnyside. He did a great job keeping the ball out of the net.”
Penalty kick too high for Salpointe at the 70-minute mark.
Sunnyside still up 3-0. https://t.co/d7Dl84XXGW pic.twitter.com/yTrUGT8e1N— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 15, 2025
O’Brien added that with the way Lugo is playing, “I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody scores on us right now.”
That will be a tall task against Pinnacle, which is averaging 3.1 goals a game.
The Pioneers are coming off a 4-1 win over No. 16 Gilbert Perry on Friday night.
Their four goals against Sunnyside in the win on Dec. 30 are the most the Blue Devils have allowed this season.
Who can doubt Sunnyside right now? The Blue Devils are averaging five goals a game while allowing only three goals overall in their current five-match winning streak.
They are also using the loss to Pinnacle as motivation, similar to their ability to respond after losing to Salpointe in early December.
“Sometimes you lose and you get in your head and lose confidence,” O’Brien said about avenging the loss to Salpointe. “Instead, our team literally gained confidence from it. They came out here and were just so hungry for this win.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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