Desert Vista's girls soccer team thrives on defense. On Wednesday night the Thunder got treated to a 2-0 lead 15 minutes in and staved off a multitude of set-piece attacks from Highland the rest of the way to nab a 2-1 victory in a Division I semifinal at Campo Verde High School.

Desert Vista (24-2), the No. 2 seed, advances to meet No. 4 Xavier in the D-I championship match on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Campo Verde High. Xavier eddged No. 1 seed Pinnacle, 2-1, in the late semifinal game. Desert Vista will be looking for its second girls soccer crown, The Thunder won the first one in 2005. Highland finished 21-3-2 in attempting to defend its title. The Hawks lost only five games the last two seasons -- three were to Desert Vista by scores of 1-0, 2-1 and 2-1.

Forward Tatum Heeres and midfielder Kelly Watson scored in the fifth and 15th minutes, respectively, for Desert Vista. That was pleasing to Thunder coach Marvin Hypolite, but left him uneasy as well.

"The early goals gave us a cushion," Hypolite said. "But a two-goal lead is tricky score."

Highland had plenty of opportunities the rest of the first half and particularly the final 30 minutes of the second half. Desert Vista missed two great chances in the first six minutes of the second half to go up 3-0. From there, Highland kept the heat on Desert Vista and scored its only goal in the 52nd minute --- senior Ashley Hatch doing the honors. 

"Them getting that goal brought us together," Hypolite said. "We still had wiggle room. .....Tired or fresh I thought our defense was solid."

Desert Vista bowed out of the state tournament last year in the quarterfinal round, but defense remained the team's strength. The Thunder has given up up just one goal in three state tournament games.

"Losing last year has made us hungrier the second time around," Hypolite said. "This keeps our confidence high." 

HIghland coach John Berzins expected his team to net the tying goal after pulling within 2-1 with 28 minutes left. If he could have willed in a goal, he would have as intense and encouraging as he was on the sideline.

"We put ourselves in a hole early," Berzins said. "We needed a bounce, a couple inches here or there. Near the end (Desert Vista keeper Alexa Ryder) made a really good save. We put pressure on for most of the the first 40 minutes, too. But credit their defense. Some nights you don't get a right bounce."

Xavier (16-3-3), which split two games with Pinnacle (18-3-1) in December, used two goals from senior forward Michaela Dooley to subdue Pinnacle. Dooley scored in the first few minutes before either team had broken a sweat to put Xavier ahead. Xavier took that 1-0 lead to halftime.

Pinnacle tied the game when Ali Lixandru's shot was stopped by Xavier's keeper then dropped just inside the goalmouth in the 49th minute. Dooley supplied the tie-breaker and game-winner unassisted with a cannon shot from about 40 yards out. in the 53rd minute. Xavier will try to notch its eighth soccer title on Saturday with the last one coming in 2010 under current coach Barb Chura. Pinnacle, which won its only girls soccer title in 2011, has been eliminated in the semifinals each of the last two seasons.