While the sun set over the boys soccer state championship game on Saturday, Nov. 1, Scorpions lost 2-0 against the undefeated Highland Prep West Hornets, but many watching were still proud they made it so far.

“The ball doesn’t always bounce your way,” Head Coach Gavin Shippen’s father Samuel Shippen said after the game.

“To even come second place, that’s something that they [the players] will have for the rest of their lives,” said Warren Shippen, Gavin’s uncle.

One theme throughout audience members’ and team members’ heads was the experience of each team.

“They’re still pretty young,” said Carlos Gonzalez, older brother of freshman Jean-Carlo Gonzalez [No. 13]. “So they definitely have [a future]”

The Scorpions have 21 players: Three seniors, five juniors, nine sophomores and four freshmen.

The Hornets had three freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and 15 seniors.

Carlos, who graduated in 2024, played in the state championship game for Sedona in 2022 and lost 3-1 against the Chino Valley Cougars.

“Too many memories right now,” he said.

Highland Prep scored both of its goals in the first half, the first in the first five minutes, the second with eight minutes left in the first half.
“I’m so proud of them,” assistant coach Fernando Beltran said. “They play really hard. They give everything they have, and that’s what we want. Second place is not bad.”

Eduardo Ramirez [No. 5] said he was pleased with the season overall and they progressed a lot. Despite losing to Northland Prep Academy, the No. 1 seed in the Fall North Region, just ahead of Sedona, during the season they were able to win against them in the quarterfinal.

“We wanted to beat these guys out, also,” he said, “because this is our third loss in the season against them.”

The Scorpions first played the Hornets in its preseason invitational on Aug. 22 where they lost 3-4. The Hornets won their game against the Scorpions on Oct. 23 2-1.

“We’re a young squad,” senior Ben Metzger [No. 12] said. “We just got outran. … We came up short.”

The championship game was the Scorpions’ third loss in the regular season out of 15 games.

“When I joined up with Sedona, last year was the first season, … my time was to give them four years,” Shippen said. “Take the freshmen all the way till they’re seniors.

“Every year, it’s building, building, building so much experience. Next year, I think is going to be probably one of the best seasons in school history.”

Freshman Eduardo Vergara [No. 6] said the loss is motivating for him.

The lesson from this year’s game isn’t about the ball, he said, it’s about how you work as a team to maneuver it through your opponents.
“We have to win next year,” he said.

Carlos Gonzalez, who came to watch most games hosted at home throughout the season, said he’s impressed with the team overall and they’ve played some really good games.

The Scorpions semifinal game against the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets “was a little more tense,” he said. “They kept it closer.”

Sedona won that game 3-2, with goals being scored in the first five minutes and last 20 minutes of the second half.

“It’s like the beginning of the next few good seasons for our team,” Beltran said.