HIGH SCHOOL

Hunter Figueroa leads Highland past No. 2 Pinnacle

Richard Obert
azcentral sports
Highland's Hunter Figueroa (18) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against Pinnacle in the second half during the state tournament quarterfinals at Pinnacle High School on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016 in Phoenix. Highland won, 4-1.

When Hunter Figueroa saw that Gilbert Highland was going to have to travel to Phoenix Pinnacle for the Division I quarterfinals, his eyes lit up.

His excitement was warranted after Pinnacle's synthetic grass only made Highland's fastest player look faster.

Figueroa got past defenders three times for second-half goals in a 4-1 Highland victory Saturday that eliminated No. 2 Pinnacle from the state boys soccer playoffs.

"I love playing on turf," the senior forward/midfielder said. "It helps."

Figueroa's speed was too much, as he got into one-on-one situations against sophomore goalkeeper Joaquin Rodriguez after a scoreless first half.

ScoreboardFind results from the first round of the boys soccer state championship

Figueroa's first goal two minutes into the second half bounced off of Rodriguez from close range and into the net.

"Us being the seventh seed, they probably underestimated us and didn't think we were that good a team," Figueroa said.

Pinnacle (21-3) had numerous chances to score, but Highland senior goalie Jacob Faircloth stayed steady in front of the net, making big save after big save, especially in the second half after Highland (14-3-2) went up a goal.

Faircloth also got lucky once, when he punched a scoring attempt with his fists that went right back to a Pinnacle player, whose shot went over the net with 12 minutes left.

Four minutes prior, Rodriguez deflected Rhys Montanarello's hard blast before Blake Barney was there to finish and give Highland a 2-0 lead.

Pinnacle cut it to 2-1 on Matt Grimes' goal that was set up by Dominick Devictor with 11 minutes to play.

Desert Vista soccer team stuns top-seed Brophy Prep in first round

But another save by Faircloth and a long kick from defender Peysen Webster led to another Figueroa goal with 7:18 left. Figueroa put the game away with two minutes left after being left alone in front of Rodriguez and kicking the ball past him on a fake move.

"We just didn't put away chances that we had early on and they were able to sneak one in on us," Pinnacle coach Brock Heykoop said. "That changed the entire complexion of the game."

With Pinnacle's loss, the top two seeds are gone. No. 16 Phoenix Desert Vista eliminated top-seed Phoenix Brophy Prep on penalty kicks in the first round.

Desert Vista kept its dream season alive with a 2-1 win at No. 8 Gilbert Campo Verde, and will play No. 4 Gilbert at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals at Campo Verde.

No. 7 Highland (14-3-2) plays No. 3 Chandler Hamilton -- a quarterfinal winner over Tempe Corona del Sol on penalty kicks -- on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Campo Verde in the first semifinal.

Faircloth said he feels Pinnacle is capable of beating anyone.

"We're made of a lot of talent," Faircloth said. "Sometimes, we show up and other times we don't. But when we show up, we can beat any team we go against."

Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.