Southlake Carroll girls advance to regional soccer championship

The Southlake Carroll girls soccer team was without its top two scorers, but in the end it turns out that it didn’t make a huge difference in its Class 6A Region I semifinal against upstart McKinney Boyd.

The Dragons got a scare early going down a goal, but rallied for a 3-1 win on Friday morning at McKinney ISD Stadium.

Carroll (29-0-0), the top-ranked team in the state in the final Texas Girls Coaches Association’s Class 6A state poll, will play for a chance to go to the state tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday when it faces No. 4 Flower Mound Marcus (23-1-1) in the regional final, back at McKinney ISD Stadium.

Kennedy Fuller (55 goals, 26 assists) and Zoe Matthews (22 goals, 26 assists) are both in France with the U.S. 16-U National Team and took away a huge punch from the Dragons front.

Kennedy Fuller was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 and the state title game MVP (3 goals) in 2022 as a freshman. The sophomore, who has reclassified as a junior, has committed to North Carolina.

The duo will be back if the Dragons make it to the state tournament next week.

Boyd (19-6-3) got on the board first when Elaina Flores took a cross from Liz Eddy and punched it in from 12 yards out to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.

Carroll found some urgency after that, but just couldn’t connect the rest of the first half.

Hannah Jordan had a free kick from 37 yards out in the 26th minute that was stopped. Parker Wilkerson’s shot went just wide in the 33rd minute after another free kick from Jordan.

Marley Naughton’s shot from 25 yards out from the left side hit the right post and bounced away in the 37th minute. Maddie Khan’s cross in the 40th minute was just over the head of Laney Maclin who was wide open at the right side of the goal.

The Dragons smothered Boyd in the second half, challenging every ball, and it paid off.

A free kick by Jordan from 19 yds out was headed by Lexi Khan then headed in by Maddie Khan in the meelee in front of the goal to even the game at 1-1 in the 49th minute.

Nine minutes later Kaylie Harris made a perfect cross from the right side to Jordan who headed it in from 10 yards out to put the Dragons up 2-1.

The Broncos only had three shots in the second half, none on goal, and two came in the first seven minutes of the second half and both hit the side of the Carroll goal.

Carroll put the game out of reach when Kamdyn Fuller’s shot bounced off a Boyd defender and Lexi Khan was there to punch in the rebound in the 69th minute.

Carroll got a scare in the 26th minute when freshman Kamdyn Fuller, Kennedy’s younger sister, appeared to injure an ankle jumping into Boyd goalkeeper Shelby Henderson in an attempt to punch the ball in.

Kamdyn Fuller limped off on her own, but returned to play in the 32nd minute.

GIRLS REGIONALS

Cypress Bridgeland 1, Mansfield 0

Cypress Bridgeland’s Anaiyah Robinson scored on a breakaway in the 75th minute and the Bears held off Mansfield in a girls Class 6A Region II semifinal at the Reeves Complex in Austin

No. 8 Bridgeland (25-1-1) advances to the regional final and will meet the winner of the match between No. 2 Wylie East (26-0-0) and No. 9 The Woodlands (21-1-4) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, back at the Reeves Complex.

Mansfield (20-2-1) has reached the regional semifinals eight times, including the past three seasons, but has only advanced to the regional final once back in 2001.

Flower Mound Marcus 1, Trophy Club Byron Nelson 0 OT

Flower Mound Marcus scored off of a free kick in the 94th minute in the second overtime then held on to escape with a 1-0 win over Trophy Club Byron Nelson in a Class 6A Region I semifinal on Friday at McKinney ISD Stadium.

No. 4 Marcus (23-1-1) will take on top-ranked Southlake Carroll (29-0-0) at 10 a.m. on Saturday back at MISD Stadium for the right to head to Georgetown for the state tournament next week.

Maddie Hays of Marcus took the free kick from 24 yards out on the left side and lofted the ball to the right side, inside the box. The ball bounced off of several players before Madi Patterson corraled it and blasted it into the keeperless net.

Bobcat’s goalkeeper Raclyn Stone made the initial save, but was pulled out of position in front of the net when Patterson scored.

The goal spoiled a terrific game by Stone who faced a barrage of shots from Marcus, 14 in the second half alone.

The game remained scoreless through regulation play and the first overtime, despite the Bobcats being a player down.

Byron Nelson (18-5-3) played with just 10 on the pitch after Tina Clark received a red card in the 55th minute after an accidental, but hard hit on Patterson, a freshman.

Nelson held its own in the first half despite the majority of the pressure being put on by the Marauders.

Byron only had one shot in the first 40 minutes to eight for Marcus, two on goal, but the Bobcats managed a draw at the intermission.

Marcus defeated Byron Nelson 4-0 in the first game of the season for both teams. It was the Bobcats deepest run in the playoffs since the 2014 season.

Grapevine 3, Abilene 1

Grapevine scored three second-half goals to end Abilene’s first regional tournament trip in 22 years as the Mustangs prevailed 3-1 in a Class 5A Region I semifinal on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Grapevine (23-3-2) will face Wichita Falls Rider (26-3-2) in the regional final at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday back at Memorial Stadium

Rider thumped El Paso Andress 6-0 on its home field in the second semifinal.

Caroline Martin opened the scoring for the Mustangs. Martin pivoted, spun to her left then drilled a shot of the goalkeeper from 15 yards out to give Grapevine a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.

The Mustangs scored twice in a seven minute span late in the game. Theresa McCullough scored in the 71st minute assisted by Rowan Truman.

Blake Turner’s goal in the 78th minute off an assist from McCullough pushed the lead to 3-0.

Grapevine will be making its sixth regional final appearance and third in a row. The Mustangs will be hoping for its fourth state tournament appearance after reaching the title game in 2022.

Abilene (18-4-2) finally got on the board in the 79th minute on a goal by Laila Brown.

BOYS REGIONALS

Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis 2, El Paso Irvin 0

Diamond Hill-Jarvis punched its ticket to the Class 4A Region I final after downing El Paso Irvin 2-0 on Friday at Northwest ISD Stadium in Justin.

Diamond Hill-Jarvis (28-1-1) will try to become the third Fort Worth ISD team in as many years to reach the state tournament when they take on San Elizario (23-2-1) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday back at Northwest ISD Stadium.

Trimble Tech lost in the state semifinals in 2022 and DH-J reached the state title game in 2021.

Irvin’s season ends at 18-9-0.

“The guys have been working hard, since summer really and up to this point and it shows,” said Diamond Hill-Jarvis coach Kyle Reopelle. “We have a lot of seniors this year and they’ve been working their butts off, the last four years really, and they’re seeing the fruits of it, especially now in the playoffs.”

Eagle’s forward Ricardo Gonzalez was fouled hard in the box by Irvin goalkeeper Jonathan Chairez-Manzo in the 24th minute and Gonzalez converted the penalty kick to take an early 1-0 lead.

“He’s a fantastic player,” said Reopelle of Gonzalez. “He’s very creative and has scored 30-plus goals for us this season, but what’s best about him is his brain. He understands the game and understands where the spaces are that he needs to run into.”

The game remained 1-0 despite the Eagles dominating play against Irvin. Chairez-Manzo was forced to make several nice saves, especially in the second half to keep the game close.

Alejandro Ibarra finally gave the Eagles some breathing room in the 73rd minute. Ibarra took a perfect feed from Edward Zuniga down the left hash then juked Chairez-Manzo before punching it in from five yards out.

San Elizario 2, Fort Worth Western Hills 0

The Fort Worth Western Hills boys soccer team saw its dream season come to a close on Friday as San Elizario scored in the first minute of the game then added an insurance goal in the second half to down the Cougars 2-0 in a Class 4A Region I semifinal at Northwest ISD Stadium.

San Elizario (23-2-1) will face another District 7-4A squad in Fort Worth Diamond Hill-Jarvis (28-1-1) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in the regional final.

“I hate losing, but I’m really proud of how we played,” said Western Hills coach Matt Collins. “I’m a Midwestern kid so I’m a basketball kid in my heart, right. San Elizario is like Duke or Kansas.

“As a coach I’ve been watching this for twenty years and San Elizario is always here. I think that maybe early in the match it helped them that they’ve always been here. They were a little bit more ready for the moment in the first ten or fifteen minutes of the game that we were.”

Alan Jurado camped unchecked five yards in front of the net before he took a cross from a throw in and bounced it past the Western Hills goalkeeper in the first minute to give San Elizario a 1-0 lead.

From that point Western Hills (19-7-0) battled the Eagles, but could never get a decent run or scoring opportunity.

“It’s probably the first team that we’ve played this year that was really good all around,” said Collins of San Elizario. “I tried watching them on film and tried to find where they were bad. They’re not. There’s no cracks in that team at all. They’re very good.”

The Eagles’ crisp play, excellent ball handling and defense stymied the Cougars who didn’t get their first shot off until the 23rd minute.

San Elizario upped the lead to 2-0 in the 54th minute. Noah Mendez dribbled through several Western Hills defenders on his way to the net then chipped it to Eduardo Marquez who beat the Cougars’ goalkeeper.

It was the deepest playoff run in school history for Western Hills.

“We have thirteen seniors and I met most of them when they were in middle school,” said Collins. “We knew that they were going to be good and obviously we’ve done things that we’ve never done at our school.

“I tell them all the time that you play until you find a team good enough to beat you. I don’t want to say it right now, but I’ll probably wake up tomorrow and realize that we probably maybe found the team that was just better than us.”

El Paso Bel Air 4, Burleson Centennial 0

El Paso Bel Air remained unbeaten as the Highlanders scored two goals in the first 12 minutes and three in the first half to pull away from Burleson Centennial in a Class 5A Region I semifinal at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Bel Air (26-0-1) will meet Midlothian (23-2-2) at 10 a.m. Saturday back at Memorial Stadium for a chance to go to Georgetown for the state tournament.

It will be the fifth trip to the regional final round for Bel Air since the 2010 season. The Highlanders were the Class 5A state champions in 2019.

It was the furthest playoff run for the boys in school history for Centennial (16-8-2). The Spartans reached the regional quarterfinals in 2013.

Allen 1, Keller Timber Creek 0

Allen scored the only goal of the game in the 48th minute then ramped up the defense to oust Keller Timber Creek in a Class 6A Region I semifinal on Friday at McKinney ISD Stadium.

Allen (19-2-5) will face Dallas Lake Highlands (13-8-4) at noon on Saturday back at McKinney ISD Stadium in the regional championship game.

Evan Pustejovsky’s cross found freshman James Mastrangelo who found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead shortly after the intermission.

Timber Creek (21-4-2) did pressure the Eagles late in the game, but senior goalkeeper Alec Setterberg was up to the task each time keeping the Falcons off the board.

Timber Creek, the District 4-6A champion, had not been shut out since a 2-0 loss to Grapevine in a tournament on January 21st.

It was the Falcons deepest trip in the playoffs. Timber Creek lost in the area round a year ago in its first playoff appearance.

Midlothian 2, Lubbock Monterey 1

Ayden Hildreth scored two first half goals for Midlothian and the Panthers made it stand up in a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Lubbock Monterey in a Class 5A Region I semifinal at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Midlothian (23-2-2) takes on El Paso Bel Air (26-0-1) in the regional final at 10 a.m. on Saturday back at Memorial Stadium.

Bel Air blitzed Burleson Centennial 4-0 in the second semifinal.

Monterey, making its first trip to the regional semifinals, finishes 21-1-4.

Hildreth’s goal in the 22nd minute was the first goal the Plainsmen had allowed in the playoffs.

Landon Exley and Caden Naizer assisted on Hildreth’s goals.

It will be Midlothian’s second trip to a regional final with the previous time coming in 2017.

This roundup will be updated throughout the day with more regional soccer semifinal results.