The UIL soccer playoffs start Thursday, with teams beginning a nearly month-long journey that they hope ends with a state championship. Here are some top area storylines to follow:

Can Class 6A boys teams maintain regional-title grip?
The task won’t be easy, but the prospects are promising. Harlan and Reagan are perhaps the area’s best bets, with Smithson Valley, defending state champion LEE, Johnson and Clemens expected to be in the mix. Austin Lake Travis looks to be the biggest threat.

With LEE winning the past two Region IV-6A crowns and Reagan claiming the top prize in 2018, the San Antonio area is in a bit of a renaissance. LEE was the odds-on favorite to win it all in 2020 before the season was halted two weeks before the start of the playoffs because of a global coronavirus pandemic.
The run of regional crowns is the best for the area since teams combined to win 12 straight regional titles from 1993-2004 — and it comes on the heels of a drought in which area teams didn’t produce a regional winner for nine straight seasons (2009-2017).

Even more, if not for the global pandemic in 2020 and heartbreaking losses by Reagan in 2018 and LEE in 2019, the San Antonio area quite possibly could have won each of the past four UIL Class 6A state championships. LEE won it all a year ago and was poised to do so in 2020 before the campaign was suspended because of COVID. In 2018, Reagan lost to Alief Elsik 1-0 and LEE lost on penalty kicks vs. Flower Mound in 2019.

Harlan (20-2) enjoyed its best season a year ago, reaching the regional semifinals before falling to Austin Lake Travis 2-1. Harlan led 1-0 at halftime before Lake Travis scored two goals only a minute apart midway through the second half to rally. Coach Berto Atilano and his Hawks haven’t shown any signs of slowing down, breezing to their second straight undefeated District 29-6A title behind a balanced scoring attack led by Greydyn Richards, Oscar Valencia and Avery Richards, and a stingy defense headed by goalkeeper Dominic Pena.

Reagan (16-3-3) finished atop 28-6A for the first time since playing for the state crown four years ago, and if it wants to repeat that run it must first get past a familiar foe in New Braunfels. The Unicorns stunned Reagan a year ago, prevailing on penalty kicks after Reagan rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to tie it at 2-2 and force overtime. The teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Comalander Stadium.

Paced by Brad Dildy, the area’s leading goal scorer with 41, Smithson Valley (20-2-1) tied Clemens for the 27-6A crown but grabbed the league’s No. 1 playoff seed on a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Rangers open vs. a dangerous Brandeis (10-6-5) squad, paced by forward Jake Salas (19 goals), that twice tied Reagan and went 1-0-1 vs. LEE. The contest is at 7 p.m. Thursday at Boerne Champion High School.
Clemens (14-5-2) hosts LEE at 6 p.m. Friday at Lehnhoff Stadium in a rematch of a 2021 third-round encounter in which LEE rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to prevail 3-1 during its march to a state title.

Hurricanes’ historic campaign
Every season, it seems, there’s a heart-warming story about a team that overcame long odds or finally had the proverbial pieces fall into place en route to recording a breakthrough year. Sam Houston earns the billing this year.

The Hurricanes are headed to the UIL playoffs for what is believed to be the first time in their history, which dates back to the 1980s. Their journey is truly rags-to-riches.

Sam Houston this season has as many wins (14) as it did during the previous 10 seasons (2012-2021) combined. The Hurricanes lost 181 of 199 games during that span, were held scoreless 126 times and were outscored by a 1,063-126 margin.

The struggles, however, weren’t a new issue. On March 1, 1991, Russell Waits scored two goals and Pablo Hernandez added another as Sam Houston held off Lanier 3-2. It was the program’s first win in three years.

“They all were jumping around like they had won the Super Bowl or something,” Sam Houston coach Harold Sinclair said at the time. “I got drenched.”

In the aftermath, winless (2005, 2007) and one-win seasons (2010, 2008, 2006) became the norm. This year, though, Coach Aaron Yates oversaw a remarkable turnaround. Sam Houston opened the season by claiming the consolation title at the Ingleside tournament, and never looked back.

The Hurricanes’ first postseason trip pits them vs. Southwest (19-1-1) in a Class 5A bidistrict matchup at 6 p.m. Friday at Dragon Stadium. A regional semifinalist a year ago, Southwest is an offensive juggernaut, with Hector Montoya (37 goals, 18 assists), Julian Leon (36 goals, 17 assists) and Edson Gonzalez (36 goals, 14 assists) combining for 109 goals and 49 assists. Leon recently became only the 10th area boys player to score 100 career goals.

One tough league
For Clark senior Emma Nylund, the revelation came on one of those nights when she returned home after a District 28-6A game and could barely summon the strength to move.

“You’re just so tired,” Nylund said. “You lay on the floor, and you get up and take a shower. This district is a lot tougher, a lot more physical, so I think it takes just a little bit of a toll on us.”

With the UIL playoffs kicking off this weekend, there’s little denying that the four 28-6A teams that advanced to the postseason — Clark, Reagan, Johnson and Madison — have been tested. Four of the squads (Reagan, Clark, Johnson and Madison) were nationally ranked at one point. Six teams finished the regular season with at least 11 wins. The district title and the league’s final playoff berth weren’t determined until the final contest.

“You enjoy it for a night, put it on the shelf, and get back at it, because the next team is a good team,” Reagan coach Kate McCollum said, speaking of the rigors of the district. “I don’t think people understand that about our district. There’s no down time.”

In the past month, weekly showdowns between nationally-ranked opponents became commonplace. Taking a peak at the scoreboard on the adjacent field to keep tabs on an opponent was also a norm.

Clark (19-3-2 overall, 13-1-2 in district) claimed the 28-6A championship, edging Reagan (18-2-3, 12-1-3) by two points. Johnson (16-4-3, 10-3-3) was third and Madison (12-4-6, 7-4-5) was fourth. Madison played Brandeis (11-7-4, 7-5-4) to a scoreless draw in the teams’ district finale on March 18 to hold onto the final playoff spot. LEE (12-7-4, 7-6-5) was sixth, and only two points separated the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place squads.

“I think our district is probably the toughest in San Antonio,” Madison senior midfielder Jaycie Bass said. “We know every team in this district, even if their record is not so good, they’re still athletic. Everybody has heart. Everybody wants to win.”

Bass and her teammates learned as much on Feb. 22. Winless in their previous three games (0-2-1), and with a meeting with Reagan on the horizon, the Mavericks figured to get on track vs. a Churchill squad that finished 3-19-1. With the contest scoreless and less than five minutes left, Madison appeared on the verge on a tie that could have been devastating to its playoff aspirations.

Kalynn Moreno, though, came to the rescue. She scored off an assist from Melanie Torres with 4 1/2 minutes left as the Mavericks prevailed 1-0.

“I’m just glad we got the win,” said Bass, who signed with Tarleton State. “One-zero is still three points, the same as 5-0. I think that was really putting stress on us in the last five minutes. We were really feeling the pressure of really needing the three points, instead of that one from a tie. There are times where I’d like having an easy game just to rest our starters a little bit, but I love the competition, I love having the drive to win. We always try to play above the team that we’re playing against, and I think that’s something special about the NEISD district, it’s that every team is good.”

Reagan can attest to as much. In one eight-day span, the Rattlers sandwiched wins vs. nationally-ranked Clark (1-0) and Johnson (3-1) around a 4-2 win vs. Brandeis, in which it rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to prevail. Molly Alger scored off a pass from Natania Olsen only seven minutes into the match, and goalkeeper Emily Tredemeyer registered nine saves to make it stand. Taylor Jernigan had two goals and two assists in the come-from-behind triumph vs. Brandeis, and Brooke Castillo netted two goals in 38 seconds and senior Cami Jordan tallied one vs. Johnson.

“It’s more of a mental game, because we have to stay strong even after we beat our toughest opponent, Castillo said. “Our team is really good at staying humble. I think our team is really competitive. We actually get excited to play the good teams, but it’s not like all of them isn’t a challenge. We have a drive to win.”

Reagan opens the postseason Thursday vs. Steele at 5:30 p.m. at Comalander Stadium. Clark faces Clemens at Farris Stadium, Johnson tangles with New Braunfels at Comal ISD’s Pieper High School, and Madison plays Smithson Valley at Comal ISD’s Davenport High School. All three games start at 7 p.m.

Smithson Valley (21-1) is riding a 21-game winning streak and hasn’t loss since falling to O’Connor 2-1 in both teams’ season opener on Jan. 4.

“It definitely brings stress,” Madison senior Izabelle Hernandez said. “That goes through my head a lot (that) this could be my last game. This could be my last season. I’ve got to push, not only for me but for my team.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1