It cannot get any tougher than it is in the girls’ 5A-I Central Region.

Or could it? In the second of at least four possible meetings this season, Tempe Corona del Sol beat Phoenix Desert Vista 2-1 in the semifinals of the Dobson Mustang Soccer Classic at Mesa’s Red Mountain Park.

The Aztecs will face Phoenix Mountain Pointe today in the finals for the second of at least four possible meetings. Mountain Pointe defeated Gilbert 2-1 in the other semifinal.

Mountain Pointe coach Kirk Nelson welcomes a rematch with a team his squad lost to in the semis of the Tempe Diablos Soccer Classic earlier this month.

“The girls know how tough each game is, especially in this region,” Nelson said. “They will be ready to keep the competitive spirit up.” Corona’s win, its second over the Thunder this season, came without Alexa Daiutolo, who was on vacation.

The Thunder also weathered three yellow cards in what was a physical contest between the two rivals. “It would have been easy to make excuses with one of your best players out of the game, but we work hard with what we have.”

The Aztecs hope to have Daiutolo on the field against Mountain Pointe, but may be at the mercy of flight cancellations due to storms across the country.

In the Corona del Sol-Desert Vista match, Megan Larsen’s goal with four minutes left proved to be the game winner for the Aztecs.

The Aztecs controlled the first half, helped by a Brittany Cole goal midway, but Desert Vista regrouped in the second half and did its part to control the action.

Katlyn Piotrowski tied the game with 15 minutes left, and Thunder Kara Miller kept the Aztec defense on its toes with several strong shots on goal.

In the Mountain Pointe-Gilbert clash, Gilbert controlled the pace for most of the first half, but watched its efforts unravel late in that segment when seniors Wendy Murphy and Alex Elston scored goals within two minutes of each other.