For nearly an hour, against the odds and conventional thinking, a shorthanded Taft High School girls soccer team summoned the wherewithal to simply hang on.

The biggest game in a historic season had been turned upside down when standout goalkeeper Madissyn Harris was given a red card for a foul just outside her team’s penalty area only 15 minutes into the contest. Taft, because of Harris’ ejection, would have to play the final 65 minutes with 10 players and not the customary 11.

As the minutes ticked away, and as the Raiders kept the match scoreless with desire and smoke and mirrors, the prospects of doing what appeared impossible suddenly seemed as if it could become possible.

“Even though we were a man down, we played really good as a team,” Taft sophomore midfielder Jessiny Aguillon said. “I think that we played with so, so much heart. I was really hopeful.”

Kate Grannis put a hole in the ambition, netting two goals in the final 10 minutes as Austin Westlake topped Taft 2-0 on Saturday for the Region IV-6A championship at Comalander Stadium.

The Chaparrals (16-4-2) advanced to state for the second time in the past three seasons and the fourth overall. They also made it in 1996, 2007 and 2022.

“I think knowing what was going to happen, we were just hoping for the best and putting our hearts on the field just to finish it, just to get it out there and try and score a goal,” Taft senior defender Bella Galan said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. But I think we did awesome in the process.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, with temperatures in the mid-80s and only an occasional breeze providing a respite from the heat, the Raiders (21-1-4) survived 100 minutes of end-to-end play during regulation and overtime and a nerve-wrecking penalty-kick shootout to defeat Round Rock 3-2.

The momentum looked as if it might carry over into Saturday’s encounter when junior forward/midfielder Julissa Gonzalez had a promising scoring opportunity only three minutes into play.

Twelve minutes later, Austin Westlake junior Carter Utkor got behind Taft’s defense for a breakaway. As she neared the penalty area, Harris rushed off her line to defend and collided with Utkor. Since Harris, who is committed to St. Mary’s University, was the last line of defense, and her foul stopped an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, she was shown a red card.

Austin Westlake couldn’t capitalize on an ensuing 20-yard free kick or a few other chances, but the moment altered the game’s trajectory.

Taft went into a defensive posture, relying on forward Jordan Matthews to do whatever she could on offense through a direct playing style, while the backline of Mya Taylor, Galan, Brynn Navin and Kaylee McCrum provided shelter for sophomore defender Reagan Hosford, who was thrust into playing goalkeeper. Standout midfielder Layla Rangel, who on occasion this season has played goalkeeper in games where the outcome was well in hand, took over for Hosford after eight minutes.

Rangel finished with five saves and had several other moments when she was quick off her line to reel in passes before they became dangerous.

“I think it was kind of mental,” Taft sophomore midfielder Madison Shinn said. “We were a man down and it was just hard to move everything around. We couldn’t really go forward. I think our team has great chemistry. We were all there for each other. I think we did everything that we could with a man down.”

Taft’s effort was good enough for 55 minutes. But the wear started to show the deeper into the game it got. And as much as Raiders coach Scott Davis tried to substitute to keep his players rested, they soon started to hunch over and put their hands on hips — signs of fatigue.

“We all had that mentality of just, ‘We know they’re going to be physical. We know they’re going to take shots. We know that they know that we have a man down and we’re vulnerable at this moment,’ ” said Galan, who is signed with McNeese State. “It was very challenging.”

Austin Westlake finally capitalized with 10 minutes left to play when Utkor briefly got away from two Taft defenders with a move toward the goal line and sent a pass into the center of the penalty area. Grannis ran onto the pass and slotted it in for the game-winner.

Taft moved Rangel, who had 22 goals and 23 assists, back in the field in hopes of finding a tying goal. But Austin Westlake capitalized on a takeaway deep in the Raiders’ third of the field and Grannis, a senior forward/midfielder committed to Virginia Tech, tapped in a pass from Utkor with 3:43 left to ice the contest.

“I think it shut us down, because our last hope was to try and go into overtime, maybe PKs,” Shinn said after Taft had a 25-game unbeaten streak snapped. “They scored two and it was kind of just over.”

Region IV-4A: At Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, Boerne’s boys and girls teams recorded dramatic wins to advance to the UIL Class 6A state tournament.

The boys edged Progreso 1-0 on a late goal in regulation. The girls needed penalty kicks to slip past District 26-4A foe Davenport after the teams went scoreless through regulation and overtime.

For the Boerne boys (22-0), it was their third regional title in the past four seasons and fifth overall. They also won in 2002, 2006, 2021 and 2022.

Brett Hettie headed in Shae Gonzales’ corner kick with eight minutes left for the game-winner for the Greyhounds, who are off to the second-best start in San Antonio area history.

The Boerne girls (22-1-3) are headed to state for the third year in a row and fifth time in the last nine completed seasons. They also qualified in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2023.

In a rematch of the 2023 regional final, Boerne topped Davenport 3-2 in the penalty-kick tiebreaker.

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1