Taft High School junior goalkeeper Madissyn Harris emerged from the dogpile and proceeded to sprint seemingly everywhere.

Harris pumped her right fist with elation toward an adoring crowd, hugged teammates, before lying face-first on the turf at Comalander Stadium.

The emotions of the moment were understandable. It was as if things had come full circle, turning a year’s worth of heartbreak and what-ifs into jubilation.

Harris made two dramatic saves — one to keep her team’s season alive, another to extend it — as Taft outlasted Round Rock 3-2 Friday on penalty kicks in the semifinals of the Region IV-6A tournament.

The Raiders prevailed 6-5 in a penalty-kick shootout that went seven rounds. They will play Austin Westlake at 11 a.m. Saturday in the regional final, only one win from advancing to the UIL state tournament next week at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown.

“It’s going in with a blank mind, a clean slate, because it 50-50,” said Harris, who is committed to St. Mary’s University, of defending PKs. “So, going in calm, cool and collected is what’s going to help me get those.”

In 2023, vs. the same opponent, in the same round of the playoff, and on the same field, Taft had its most successful season in 32 years ended during a 2-1 setback vs. Round Rock. The Dragons scored two unanswered goals to overcome a second-half deficit.

The tables were turned on a warm, windy afternoon. This time, the Raiders were the ones who overcame the odds to record a historic win. Trailing 2-1 with three minutes left in regulation, with its offense hampered by a stiff wind, Taft appeared to be running out of time and chances. But it received the break it needed when senior forward Jordan Matthews was fouled just outside the penalty area.

Layla Rangel, a senior midfielder, took the ensuing free kick and put a shot inside the left post from 25 yards out to tie it at 2-2 and force overtime.

“I think it speaks to the girls’ resiliency,” Taft coach Scott Davis said. “I knew we weren’t quitting. It did look a little bleak in the second half. We were going against the wind, it felt like we weren’t playing with the emotion that we normally play with, and then Layla bailed us out with that just banger of a free kick.”

In overtime, with less than two minutes left, Taft’s season again appeared as if it was about to receive a gut punch when Round Rock was awarded a penalty kick following a foul inside the penalty area.

Harris, however, blocked AJ Mayock’s attempt to preserve the tie and send the contest to penalty kicks. In the tiebreaker, Rangel, Matthews, Kaylee McCrum, Bella Galan, Julissa Gonzalez and Allixandria Parada all made their attempts. Galan’s conversion tied the shootout at 4-4 and kept the Raiders alive.

Round Rock had an opportunity to secure the win, but Lexi Duarte’s PK was wide. After Parada scored to give Taft a 6-5 advantage, Harris guessed correctly and blocked Kayla Pelter’s shot.

“We stayed faithful the whole time,” Taft senior defender Brynn Navin said. “We prepared for this moment. I just knew that if we just played the way that we could, we’d be able to get back to this.”

The contest was tied at 1-1 at halftime as Matthews connected on a PK after she was fouled inside the penalty area. Round Rock led 1-0 barely seven minutes into the match when Mayock scored from 25 yards away, then regained the lead at 2-1 less than nine minutes into the second half on Kaiya Bullock’s goal.

Region IV-4A: At Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, the expected rematch in the regional finale between Boerne and Davenport came to fruition.

Boerne received goals from freshmen Sophia Namvar and Isabella Pettet in the game’s first 10 minutes en route to a 3-0 triumph over Corpus Christi London. Junior Kailey Stringfellow tallied the other goal.

In the nightcap, junior Rylee Reisdorph scored twice as Davenport rolled past Corpus Christi Calallen 2-0.

Davenport and Boerne will meet at noon on Saturday. They faced off in the regional final a year ago, with Boerne prevailing 1-0 on a goal with 70 seconds left.

BOYS
Region IV-6A: Johnson and Harlan both fell short in bids to win their first regional championship.

Edinburg North topped Johnson 2-0, riding Jonathan Trevino’s two goals and a strong defensive performance sparked by goalkeeper Adrian Alvarez. Johnson had plenty of scoring opportunities, especially with the wind at its back in the first half, but couldn’t get past Alvarez.

Harlan played Austin Vandegrift to a scoreless stalemate for 100 minutes through regulation and overtime before falling short in penalty kicks, 4-2.

Vandegrift got goals in the shootout from Chase Piening, James Hehman, Emmy Aranda and Rory Jacops. Isaiah Gonzalez and Josh Olivares converted on their attempts for Harlan, but the Hawks were high on their last two attempts.

Region IV-5A: In Brownsville, Diego Guerra and Armando Rodriguez each had a goal apiece as Brownsville Lopez held off Southwest 2-1.

The Dragons had a chance to tie it on a penalty kick with 30 seconds left in regulation, but the attempt hit off the crossbar.

Lopez led 2-0 five minutes into the second half before the Dragons, who had two first-half goals denied by offsides, pulled within one on Caleb Barajas’ goal.

Region IV-4A: Boerne moved a step closer to advancing to the state tournament for the third time in four seasons by outdueling Hidalgo 3-2.

In 2023, Hidalgo topped Boerne 3-2 on penalty kicks in the Region IV-4A final. Boerne got revenge on Friday, building a 3-1 advantage and holding off a late surge by Hidalgo.

The Greyhounds will play Progreso in the regional final. Progreso defeated La Vernia 4-2 in the other semifinal contest, which featured a fight with six minutes left to play that saw six players — three on each team — receive red cards.

Cameron Martinez and Cole Bowman tallied goals for La Vernia, which was making its inaugural appearance at a regional tournament.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1