GEORGETOWN – Boerne High is one win away from defending its 4A state title after the Greyhounds stuffed Stafford 7-1 in the 4A state semifinals with a record-setting performance.
Boerne (26-2-1) plays Friday at 2:30 p.m. against Celina (22-3-1) in the championship game.
The Greyhounds broke two 4A state tournament records on Wednesday after Sam Theiss set a 4A tourney record for most goals in a game with 3 and the team also broke the 4A state tourney record for most goals scored in a game with 7.
Seven 4A players had scored 2 goals in a state game for the record that Theiss broke and two teams had recorded 6 goals in a state game for the record that the Boerne team broke on Wednesday.
Stafford scored first on the Hounds but Boerne responded with 7 straight goals. BHS took a 2-1 lead into halftime and scored both its goals going into the wind.
When the Hounds had the wind in the second half, they broke it open with 5 goals, three of them less than two minutes apart.
BHS coach Michael Strong said when his team gets rolling, they are hard to stop.
“The boys can put so much pressure on you, it’s very difficult to keep us out of that area when we have the wind and when we get in those zones,” he said. “We’re very dangerous on those set pieces and it takes a lot to stop us.”
BHS goalkeeper Noah LeMaster said nobody panicked after they fell behind 1-0 just 12 minutes into the match.
“It doesn’t matter who scores first,” he said. “We normally settle into the game very well so I wasn’t worried about it.”
Jess Gonzales tied it up at 1-1 in the 23rd minute on a penalty kick after a handball violation in the box for the Spartans.
Theiss scored with less than five minutes left in the first half on an unassisted goal for the 2-1 advantage.
In the second half, Justin Moore knocked in a header on a Landon Murphy assist to make it 3-1 and then Theiss knocked in two more goals, the last coming on a Joe Ballenger assist for the 5-1 lead to give Theiss a hat trick.
From there, Murphy converted a free kick from 35 yards out in the 63rd minute and then Adrian Cuervo finished off the Spartans with a header on a throw-in to make it 7-1.
Because the Hounds were off Thursday and had the chance to rest a day before the finals, Strong said he left some starters in just a bit longer.
“I wanted to make sure we had the game in hand,” he said.
Strong said this year’s team is better than last year’s state title squad and LeMaster agrees.
“I think defensively we’re way better and this year we’re able to play as a group real well,” he said. “I think having all these guys play two years together helps a lot.”
Strong said he’s excited
Strong said he’s excited about Friday’s match.
“It’s going to be the hardest game of the year by far, but we’re looking forward to it,” he said.
Comment
Comments