Top-seeded Phoenix Brophy Prep defeated rival No. 3 seed Chandler Hamilton in the 6A title match 3-0 on Thursday at Campo Verde High School. 

This win comes after Brophy’s devastating loss in the state championship last year to Phoenix Desert Vista.

What changed this year was Brophy’s impressive junior class. Juniors Logan Abele and Francesco Montanile both had goals in the game while junior Nathaniel Kobbs earned the shutout. 

Abele’s late first half goal gave his team the momentum in the second half.

“That just lifted our spirits, especially being on defense, it’s a lot of mental work that has to go in to be able to defend some of the top players in the state,” junior defender Anthony Hidalgo said. “Once we got that goal, it was a big sigh of relief, and after that we had to keep going and building on and building on. Everything just kept going our way after that.”

Indeed it did. Brophy’s offense dominated in the second half with goals by senior Carson Edwards and junior Francesco Montanile. 

Defense remained strong as Hamilton continued their attack throughout the second half. Their closest attempt was a breakaway attempt from leading scorer Jesse Maldanado with three minutes left.

Both teams previously met at the final regular season game where Brophy defeated Hamilton 3-1. 

Brophy finished the season 19-3-2 while Hamilton finished at 20-4. 

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