As good of a player as she is, Alexa Daiutulo really did not want to take the penalty kick that would make or break Tempe Corona del Sol’s season.

But some gentle prodding convinced her, and now the Aztecs are in the 5A-I girls state soccer finals.

With Phoenix Xavier ahead 3-2 and 11.3 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Daiutulo found the bottom left corner of the net to send the game into a shootout. Two clutch saves by Hailey Hayes later, and the Aztecs had an improbable 4-3 win that had them jumping for joy moments after almost certain defeat on Wednesday at Mesa Community College. Corona will play Phoenix Desert Vista Friday for the championship.

“I’ve got all the faith in the world in this team, but they probably stretched me pretty thin right there,” Corona coach Matt Smith said. “... You just never say die. Never say die.”

Daiutulo’s goal ended a frantic 10 seconds in which a header by Corona bounced off the crossbar and multiple frantic feet tried to either clear the ball or put it in the goal, depending on the jersey color. Amidst the scrum an Aztec player was taken down from behind to set up Daiutulo’s score.

Daiutulo had always been hesitant to take penalty kicks because of some missed chances earlier in her career. She hit another one in the shootout to give Corona a 3-1 lead.

“I hate taking penalty kicks,” Daiutulo said. “But they told me to take it, so I just stepped up and took it.”

Xavier clawed back to within 3-2 heading into each team’s final shooter, but a score by Krista Hoffer made the Gators’ last shot a moot point.

Xavier took a 1-0 lead into halftime when Laura White headed in a corner kick, but it was Corona which came out with all the energy after intermission. The Aztecs completely controlled the opening stages of the second half and got a pair of goals from Alexis Burkhardt to go up 2-1 with 28:29 left in regulation.

But that momentum wore off quickly, as a Xavier’s Chelsea Canepa header tied the game at 2-2 just 23 seconds after Burkhardt’s second goal.

“I thought when we got up on them 2-1 we had a real shot of putting them under, but they responded back,” Smith said.

Xavier took its 3-2 lead on a free kick by Samantha Cummings with 2:51 left in the first overtime, then came Daiutulo’s heroics.

“That’s soccer,” Xavier coach Barb Schura said. “It’s never over until the final whistle blows. We didn’t clear it, they got it, we got them from behind, and the rest is history."