Bishop Gorman girls top Arbor View in Sunset Region soccer semifinal

Bishop Gorman and Centennial thought their seasons were over when they were bounced from the Class 4A Sunset Region girls soccer playoffs with semifinal losses on Feb. 26.

Instead, they’ll play each other for a region championship Monday.

In a redo of the Sunset semifinals Thursday, Gorman beat Arbor View 2-0 and Centennial won 3-1 over Shadow Ridge at Bettye Wilson Park.

“Obviously, it’s been really crazy,” Gorman midfielder Mariah Hobbs said. “We honestly thought we were done. Our hearts were breaking. I’m a senior, and that was my last game.”

Then news came the Gaels would be playing again.

“Honestly, all of this was just a shock,” Hobbs said. “We had no idea what was going on. I can’t even explain it.”

On Feb. 26, Gorman originally was eliminated with a 1-0 double-overtime loss to Shadow Ridge, and Centennial suffered a 3-0 ouster at the hands of Arbor View.

But both teams got a second chance Tuesday, when the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association reshuffled the brackets in the wake of Shadow Ridge forfeiting a Jan. 28 match against Legacy for using an ineligible player.

That forfeit shifted Shadow Ridge from second to third place in the Northwest League and Arbor View from third to second, and the playoff matchups had changed.

“It’s unfortunate that it comes under these circumstances because no matter what, it’ll be seen as a tainted win, an undeserved win,” Gorman coach Lora Feely said.

Hobbs scored just more than 15 minutes into the second half on an assist from Megan Wasiak to lift the Gaels to the win.

Wasiak scored on an assist from Courtney Beckwith in the final three minutes.

“I knew I had a shot and was praying it would make it in,” said Hobbs, who has signed with San Diego. “Right after that, I knew we were able to win this game.”

Louisiana-Monroe signee Alex Holland recorded a four-save shutout for Gorman (18-1-0), which will meet Centennial (16-2-1) in the region title game at 4 p.m. Monday. A trip to the Southern Nevada championship will be at stake.

With emotions running high after the bracket was altered, Feely was relieved there were no incidents.

“Coming into this, we were worried because we had a lot of threats toward the team,” she said. “It’s been really ugly. It’s sad when it becomes more about the parents and everybody else in the community.”

After winning three playoff games in two weeks, Arbor View (14-4-2) didn’t make it past the semifinals.

“It’s awful, but you can’t do anything about it,” Aggies coach Jay Howard said. “We’ve just got to deal with it and move on, and I guess the life lesson is that things aren’t always fair.”

The Aggies will lose four seniors to graduation, including forward and San Diego signee Erica Peeples.

“I just told them we were going to do this with class,” Howard said of his postgame speech. “We were put in a tough spot, but this is the way it was determined to be.

“I’ve been coaching varsity girls soccer for 10 years, and the way these kids handled these last two weeks since the playoffs started, I’ve never been more proud.”