Three San Antonio-area soccer teams qualified for the UIL state tournament this week at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown.

The fascinating thing about the situation is that the schools hail from the same town and school district. Boerne Champion girls advanced to the Class 5A state tournament, while the Boerne boys and girls are headed to the 4A event.

The paths the teams traveled to get to this point were quite unique:

Third time’s the charm for Chargers
Perhaps the most earth-moving development from Saturday was Boerne Champion’s triumph over defending Class 5A state champion Dripping Springs in the Region IV-5A final at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi.

The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and overtime before Champion prevailed 4-1 in penalty kicks to earn its fourth berth to the state tournament and first under Coach Kara Walters. Champion also made it to state in 2009, 2010 and 2017 under Coach Samara Weinstein, advancing to the state final in 2010 and the state semifinals in 2009 and 2017. The Chargers will play Grapevine in 5A state semifinals at noon Thursday.

What might have made the outcome surprising was that Dripping Springs appeared unbeatable. Going into Saturday’s final, the Tigers were unscathed in 52 matches (51-0-1) since a 4-1 setback to Round Rock Westwood on Jan. 8, 2021, and had won 44 games in a row since a 0-0 tie vs. Alamo Heights on Feb. 2, 2021.

The streak looked as if it would remain intact when Dripping Springs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute on Taliyah Spain’s volley off a pass from Ellie Hodsden. But Champion slowly found a rhythm and withstood the Tigers to enter into halftime only trailing 1-0.

With the aid of a stiff wind, the Chargers pressed forward in the second half and were rewarded when junior Navaeh Garris struck to tie it at 1-1 in the 55th minute. Neither team scored throughout the remainder of regulation and overtime, forcing penalty kicks to decide a winner. Champion prevailed in the tiebreaker to advance to the state tournament, fulfilling the promise it displayed earlier in the season when it opened with ties vs. longtime state power Plano West and defending Class 6A state champion Flower Mound and a win over Southlake Carroll in penalty kicks.

Southlake Carroll advanced to the 6A state tournament.

Different methods yield rare feat for Greyhounds
The Boerne boys led from start to finish in their Region IV-4A final vs. Taylor. The Boerne girls showed some serious resolve in their regional-final matchup vs. Corpus Christi Calallen.

Despite the differing routes, the journey led to the same destination — a berth to the UIL Class 4A state tournament.

Boerne became only the third area school to have both its boys and girls teams qualify for the state tournament in the same season. Churchill (1998, 1999, 2000, 2003) and Reagan (2002, 2004) have also accomplished the feat.

Coach Michael Strong’s defending state champion boys squad rolled to a 6-2 decision vs. Taylor, leading 3-0 at halftime and 5-0 deep into the second half. The Greyhounds are two wins from becoming the first area team to win back-to-back state championships. They play Houston Stafford at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the state semifinals.

Boerne’s girls twice saw one-goal leads evaporate, were forced to play shorthanded for nearly one-quarter of the match, while going into the wind, before prevailing 3-2 vs. 2021 state finalist Calallen, which had an 18-game winning streak snapped. Calallen had outscored its opponents 205-1 during the streak.

Kylie Combs scored her second goal of the match and 40th on the season in the 62nd minute for a 2-1 lead. A minute later, though, the Greyhounds were forced to play the final 17 minutes shorthanded after a red-card ejection. Calallen pulled even at 2-2 three minutes later.

Taylor’s Hudson’s long-range goal with about nine minutes left put Boerne ahead for good, helping it avenge a 1-0 overtime loss to Calallen in the regional semifinals a year ago and advance to state for the first time under Coach Jeremy Shannon and third time overall. The Greyhounds also made it to state in 2015 and 2017, losing 2-1 to Stephenville in the state final in the latter.

Boerne faces Celina in the state semifinals at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1