Six Austin-area soccer teams advance to the state tournament, most ever for Central Texas
Six Austin-area boys and girls soccer teams — a Central Texas record — will play in the UIL state tournament in Georgetown later this week after four girls teams and two boys squads won regional championships on Saturday.
The Vandegrift and Glenn boys teams will join the girls teams from Westlake, Rouse, Hendrickson and Salado on the pitch at the Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex.
The state tournament starts on Wednesday, with Salado (31-1) playing Boerne (22-1-3) in a Class 4A girls semifinal in the afternoon. An Austin-area doubleheader opens Thursday, when Hendrickson (21-3-2) plays undefeated Colleyville Heritage (23-0-2) followed by Rouse (20-4-3) vs. undefeated Frisco Wakeland (24-0-2) in the Class 5A girls semifinals. And the undefeated Glenn boys (29-0-1) play Frisco Wakeland (18-5-3) in the Class 5A semifinals later that afternoon. And on Friday, the Westlake girls (16-4-2) face Rockwall (21-3-2) in a Class 6A semifinal in the first match of the day, and the Vandegrift boys (22-2-2) play Lewisville Flower Mound (22-2-2) in a 6A semifinal in the final match of the day.
Two other Austin-area teams, the Leander and Georgetown girls, fell in Saturday's regional finals to fellow area district rivals. Round Rock and Giddings were regional semifinalists.
Sophomore goalkeeper is powering Westlake
Westlake beat San Antonio Taft 2-0 on Saturday — Taft's first loss of the season — to win its eighth straight match. Sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Martin notched her second straight regional clean sheet while Kate Grannis scored both of the Chaps' goals on a pair of assists by Carter Utkov.
The Chaps have peaked at the perfect time, using a tenacious defense with solid attacking front and skilled midfield ball control. And Martin, in her first year as a starter, has been superb in the nets.
“I could not be prouder of this team," Westlake coach Darci Carruthers said. "Everything they’ve done, they’ve done it together and they’ve done it with heart. Every player on our roster contributed to our success during this playoff run. It’s been fun and I love watching them play. We are not done yet. We’ve got two more to go.”
In Class 6A boys, Vandegrift shut out Edinburg North 3-0 as Charlie Reed had a clean sheet in the goal while Emmy Aranda, Luke Hawley, and Jason Panoff each scored goals.
Class 5A: three Austin-area teams make it to state
Lightning struck twice in Class 5A with a pair of district runners-up — Hendrickson and Rouse — knocking off their respective district's champions in the regional finals.
Rouse blanked Leander 3-0 as Ashley Perez, JJ Arellano and Shelby Wilson each notched solo goals to send the Raiders to state. And Hendrickson edged Georgetown 3-2 in a nail-biter; Kaylee McKinley scored twice, including a penalty kick, while Ava Black added a goal and Araceli Patterson notched an assist for Rouse.
“My players are amazing young women and I’m so proud they call me coach,” Rouse's Corey Elrod said.
The Glenn boys blanked Brownsville Lopez 2-0 in the Region IV-5A boys final as Tito Don Juan and John Gomez scored and Keller Marchant had the shutout. The Grizzlies remained undefeated.
UIL state soccer tournament
Wednesday-Saturday, Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex. Tickets — $35 all-tournament, $15 single game
Wednesday: Class 4A girls semifinals — Celina vs. Lumberton, 11 a.m.; Salado vs. Boerne, 1:30 p.m.; Class 4A boys semifinals — Boerne vs. Kilgore, 4 p.m.; Navasota vs. San Elizario, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday: Class 5A girls semifinals — Colleyville Heritage vs. Hendrickson, 9:30 a.m.; Frisco Wakeland vs. Rouse, noon; Class 4A girls final — 2:30 p.m.; Class 5A boys semifinals — Glenn vs. Frisco Wakeland, 5 p.m.; Midlothian vs. Baytown Goose Creek Memorial, 7:30 p.m.
Friday: Class 6A girls semifinals — Rockwall vs. Westlake, 9:30 a.m.; Prosper vs. Katy Seven Lakes, noon; Class 4A boys final — 2:30 p.m.; Class 6A boys semifinals — Katy Seven Lakes vs. Duncanville, 5 p.m.; Vandegrift vs. Lewisville Flower Mound, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday's finals — Class 5A girls, 11 a.m.; Class 5A boys, 1:30 p.m.; Class 6A girls, 4 p.m.; Class 6A boys, 6:30 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin-area boys and girls soccer teams advance to state tournament
