GEORGETOWN — Eight months ago, when schoolmates and classmates were embracing the start of a new school year and figuring out class schedules, the Smithson Valley High School girls soccer team was busy getting to work.

On Aug. 20, the second day of school, the players and coaches began a process geared toward helping them finally reach the mountaintop. Everything was mapped out, from the workout details to even how many days there were until the UIL Class 5A Division I state championship match. The Rangers were tired of coming up short of achieving an ultimate goal. They were dead set on making sure it didn’t happen again.

Whether it was 6:30 a.m. workouts, conditioning drills and weightlifting sessions, there was a different vibe about this preseason excursion compared to previous seasons. With each passing day, with each morning they arose before dawn, when another day was removed from a calendar countdown, the picture became clearer.

“It’s putting in the unseen work,” Smithson Valley senior forward and leading scorer Addi Briscoe said. “That’s how we got to where we are now.”

The journey wasn’t about perfection. It wasn’t necessarily about dominance. It was simply about claiming an award that had been so close to their grasp yet remained elusive. The view, in a blue-and-white-clad tint, came into focus on a humid Friday afternoon at Birkelbach Field. Smithson Valley outlasted Prosper Walnut Grove 1-0 in overtime to claim its first state title.

Smithson Valley is only the second San Antonio-area school to win a UIL girls soccer state championship. Madison was the first to win in 1991 and added a second crown in 1993.

“We put everything on the line, every game we had, and we knew we’d be here,” said Izzy Sutherland, a junior forward who is committed to Division I Gonzaga. “I think it really helped us be able to lean on each other. Everyone’s nervous, everyone’s hurting, everyone’s in pain. But we trust in each other. The best we can give is everything we have.”

Pushed to the limit for the first time in a season in which they didn’t trailed at any point of a contest during the past two months, the Rangers persevered. With freshman goalkeeper Brianna Lyons and defenders Tyler Bottjer, Grayson Heckendorn and Ellie George keeping Walnut Grove at bay, the game was a scoreless stalemate — despite the Rangers playing the final 55 minutes with a player advantage after a Walnut Grove player received a second yellow card (resulting in a red-card ejection) in a physical match that featured 10 cards being shown and 31 fouls called.

The decisive moment came five minutes into overtime when junior midfielder Alondra Sanchez ran onto a ball from Briscoe that was misplayed by a defender and slipped a shot inside the left post past Walnut Grove junior goalkeeper Finley Pike, who had five saves and in the Wildcats’ state semifinal win recorded a crucial stop of a penalty kick.

“I knew that the opportunities were limited,” said Sanchez, who was named the game’s MVP. “Once Addi played that great ball to me, and I got past the defender, I just had to stay composed and finish it.”

Fatigued from playing shorthanded for nearly an hour and Smithson Valley’s relentless pressure led by Briscoe, Sanchez, Morgan Heintz, Sutherland, Briseida East, Emma Perez, Abigail Newton, Peyton Cox, Kailey Luza and Hannah Newton, a Central Arkansas signee, Walnut Grove never mounted a serious scoring chance in overtime.

“I think we outlasted them,” said Smithson Valley coach Jason Adkins, who lost twice in the state semifinals as a player at MacArthur in 1995 and ’96 and as a head coach at Smithson Valley in 2023 and 2025 before finally breaking through. “I thought the team that was going to be the most physical team, the most aggressive team, the team that wants it the most and wants it the hardest (was going to win), and I think that was us tonight. People always talk about how good Dallas is — credit it to them, they are. I’m excited for San Antonio to get a state championship.”

As the final seconds ticked down, with its supporters counting out loud simultaneously, Smithson Valley’s place in history began to take hold. The Rangers (29-0-0) finished with the most wins in a season by a San Antonio-area girls team and tied with Boerne Champion boys’ 2011 state-title team for No. 2 overall (boys and girls). Alamo Heights’ 2012 state championship boys squad is in the top spot with 30 wins. The Rangers also joined the 1987 Alamo Heights boys, 1989 Churchill boys, 2002 Reagan boys, 2011 Boerne Champion boys and this year’s Pieper boys as the only San Antonio-area clubs to capture a UIL state crown in their first appearance in a state final.

“This is what perfect looks like,” said Briscoe, who is signed with Division I Abilene Christian. “I’m so incredibly proud of each girl. This team deserved the 29-0. The competition in the San Antonio area is so good. We said on the second day of school, ‘we’re winning state’ — and here we are.”

The gold-plated statement put these Rangers in the conversation with the 1991 Madison squad (22-0-2) as the area’s standard. The squads had plenty in common. Both were led by coaches with more than 400 career wins (Madison’s Audrey Ambrose and Adkins), had suffocating defenses backed by solid goalkeepers, versatile and deep midfields and high-scoring forwards. Both registered 20 shutouts, with Madison yielding only six goals in 24 games and Smithson Valley conceding only nine in 29 matches. The teams’ title wins were separated by nearly 35 years to the day.

Perhaps the biggest link is that both went into their state title-winning campaigns haunted by heartbreaks on the biggest stage. Madison lost in the state final in 1989 and 1990, squandering a 2-0 lead in the final 20 minutes of regulation and a 3-2 advantage with less than two minutes left in overtime before falling 2-1 in a 35-yard shootout in 1990. The Rangers lost 2-1 to Grapevine in overtime in 2023 and last year to A&M Consolidated (5-4 on penalty kicks) after playing to a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime. They led 1-0 in both games.

Holly (Barrow) Smith, who was a standout defender on Madison’s 1991 squad and the leading scorer (44 goals) as a forward on the ’93 state title-winning team, has a connection to both programs. Her daughter Kaitlyn was a forward on Smithson Valley’s 2019 club and scored four goals in a crucial win that year vs. San Marcos that secured a playoff berth.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Sutherland said. “(Adkins) told us multiple times we’re going to remember this day for the rest of our lives.”

The players will likely recall every step along the way, from the early-morning workouts to Sutherland nearly face-planting when her attempt to hug Sanchez after Sanchez tallied the game-winning goal wasn’t executed quite as planned, to the collection of turf burns, sore shins and bruises. They will remember standing front and center before a roaring and adoring crowd as it saluted their accomplishment — a rare and record-setting one, no less. The fact that the success was attained in a dominant and unblemished fashion only provided a proverbial cherry on top.

“All of those hard mornings that we put in to get here, we accomplished a goal,” Sanchez said. “It definitely paid off. But we knew we had to do it if we wanted to get here and win it.” said. “It definitely paid off. But we knew we had to do it if we wanted to get here and win it.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
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Roster
No. Player Class Position
0 Brianna Lyons Fr GK
1 Aubrey Castro Jr F
2 Addi Briscoe Sr F
3 Ellie George Soph D
4 Ava Olajos Jr GK
5 Brooklyn Talbott Fr MF
6 Morgan Heintz Sr MF
7 Hannah Newton Sr MF
8 Preslie Nikolai Soph MF
9 Hailey Ellison Fr F
10 Peyton Cox Jr MF
11 Izzy Sutherland Jr F
12 Abigail Newton Fr MF
13 Alondra Sanchez Jr MF
14 Samantha Mendez Soph MF
15 Madison Vestey Fr D
16 Briseida East Soph MF/F
17 Tyler Bottjer Jr D
18 Grayson Heckendorn Fr D
19 Gabby Guerrero Jr MF
21 Cora Everts Fr D
22 Kailey Luza Fr MF
23 Emma Perez Sr MF
24 Sylvia Matthews Soph F
25 Bella Rivera Fr D
26 Macy Douglass Soph MF
29 Lana Lesieur Sr D
Coach: Jason Adkins
Assistant coaches: Shauna Douglass, Tanner Wells

Season results
Steele (8-0)
Churchill (5-0)
Cedar Park Vista Ridge (3-1)
Austin Bowie (7-0)
The Woodlands College Park (3-0)
Pflugerville Hendrickson (3-1)
Duncanville (4-0)
Boerne Champion (4-1)
Alamo Heights (4-0)
Boerne (7-0)
Pieper (5-0)
New Braunfels (3-0)
Wagner (10-0)
Kerrville Tivy (10-0)
Veterans Memorial (10-0)
Boerne Champion (3-1)
Alamo Heights (3-1)
Boerne (2-1)
Pieper (3-0)
New Braunfels (5-1)
Wagner (10-0)
Kerrville Tivy (7-1)
Veterans Memorial (10-0)
Playoffs
Leander Rouse (4-0)
Southwest (6-0)
Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial (8-0)
New Braunfels (4-1)
A&M Consolidated (2-0)
Prosper Walnut Grove (1-0)