The weather seesawed between windswept and sundrenched. It was noon on a recent Thursday, and the conditions were befitting of spring break, when many high school campuses are empty, but aspirations remain full.

The Smithson Valley High School girls soccer team has spent the season rolling up its collective sleeves and going about its way in a manner geared at collecting a golden prize. In this moment, the final contest of the regular season, those same sleeves were now rolled up, not in a journey for gold, but in a quest for a bronze.

“I tan better when I wear sunscreen,” one player said.

“I never wear sunscreen,” a teammate replied.

Dermatology quickly became a conversation piece because the storyline of the game had taken on a common refrain — the Rangers were in complete control of their District 26-5A finale vs. Veterans Memorial, building an 8-0 advantage with nine minutes still left in the first half. Starters had been pulled and looked on from the sideline while either sitting or lying leisurely in front of the team’s bench. Roughly 35 minutes earlier, the players were imitating the fashion trend set by the University of Michigan’s famed Fab 5 basketball starting lineup of freshmen Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson of the early 1990s, making sure uniforms — as well as their games — were free-flowing and unrestricted.

“The whole team’s sagging,” the players told one another.

This is what adolescence feels like. It’s what dominance looks like. It’s what finding a respite from a burden of lofty expectations encapsulates. Even the strongest among us can have concerns about how fragile the line is between fulfillment and disappointment.

“This is a group of girls that we’re not just friends on the field, we’re best friends off the field,” said Smithson Valley senior forward Addi Briscoe, who is signed with Division I Abilene Christian, has a team-high 38 goals and previously lived and played in California and Georgia. “Just to be able to mess around, but still get the job done, definitely relieves some pressure. It’s very important that we are keying in on the fact that it’s not the time to mess around. It’s a business, a job we have to complete.”

The start, to that end, commences when the Rangers (23-0-0) take on Leander Rouse (10-13-1) in a UIL Class 5A Division I bidistrict contest at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Buda Hays High School. The teams are meeting in the postseason for the second straight season. Smithson Valley prevailed 3-1 in the same round a year ago.

“We just have to keep the same mindset for every game,” said Rangers senior midfielder Emma Perez, who is signed with Division II Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia and is one of two current players who played on the school’s 2023 and 2025 state-semifinalist squads. “We just have to stay focused and have the routine, so that we can be as successful as we are today. It definitely starts at training. We always have high intensity; we don’t slack off. We hope to bring that to the game. Everybody is just so close. We all have the same goal in mind at the end.”

Smithson Valley’s path to where it stands now has been a steady drip, filled with district titles, playoff berths and years of being on the cusp of attaining something much grander. At one juncture in Coach Jason Adkins’ quarter-century tenure at the school, the Rangers lost in the regional quarterfinals on six occasions, including three times to opponents who went on to play at the state tournament. The program’s fortunes had an upswing in 2023 when Smithson Valley began the season 27-0-0 — the best start in San Antonio-area history — to advance to its first state tournament. The Rangers fell to Grapevine 2-1 in overtime in the state semifinals. Two years later, they were back in the state semifinals but lost to A&M Consolidated 5-4 on penalty kicks after the clubs played to a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime.

Two seasons — one a breakthrough, the other an affirmation — concluded at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown in heartbreak and tears. Another team won the game and hoisted a trophy that Smithson Valley had envisioned itself lifting.

“Obviously, we have talent,” said Adkins, who played on MacArthur’s 1995 and 1996 state-semifinalist teams. “But we have good kids who listen and learn, and do what we want them to do, and play the style that we want them to play. You do that for years — you look at our football team — you’re going to get good results eventually and hopefully get (a state title) soon.”

On a picturesque day a week ago, those past agonizing moments were both an afterthought and an inspiration. As the players gathered in a pre-game circle with Adkins, they went over details and reminders before they braced for what would become another lopsided triumph. It was the final game before the start of the UIL playoffs.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven,” the team said in unison. “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

The Rangers quickly went about dispatching another opponent. The prevailing sentiment is that this year’s squad might be Smithson Valley’s best. The Rangers have depth, speed, skill, chemistry and come at the opposition in relentless waves. More than anything, they are driven. The results display as much. Fifteen of Smithson Valley’s 23 wins have been shutouts, and five have come via the UIL’s “mercy rule” — games are ended if one team leads by eight or more goals midway through the second half. The Rangers defeated district champions Steele (8-0), Duncanville (4-0) and Pflugerville Hendrickson (3-1) and haven’t trailed in a game in a month, that coming when Alamo Heights pounced on a defensive miscue for a 1-0 lead on Feb. 20. The deficit lasted for all of two minutes before Smithson Valley scored the first of three straight goals to tie it at 1-1 en route to a 3-1 victory.

“It was really good to see the response from our girls,” Adkins said. “Not all teams are like that. To be honest, we don’t ever talk about being undefeated. That’s not the most important thing to us. It’s winning in the playoffs and, hopefully, giving ourselves a chance to go win a state championship.”

And perhaps that is why Smithson Valley isn’t taking its foot off the proverbial gas pedal. It might be why Adkins is constantly demanding more from his team in its execution, focus, mindset and sense of urgency. It’s easy to develop unwanted habits when the score line constantly reads 10-0, 8-0 and 5-0.

“We don’t want to be satisfied with where we’re at,” said senior midfielder Morgan Heintz, who is signed with Incarnate Word and, along with Perez, is one of the two holdovers from the 2023 and 2025 state-semifinalist squads. “We want to continue pushing through. That’s one of the hardest things we have to overcome. The stakes are high, the pressure is really high, because it’s either win or go home now. It’s just a lot of stress on the individual, but we know how to deal with it.”

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