CORPUS CHRISTI – Boerne’s hopes for three straight state championships in boys soccer were dashed Saturday at Cabaniss Field by Hidalgo.
The Pirates and Greyhounds battled to the bitter end and it was tied at the end of regulation and overtime, so they went to penalty kicks where Hidalgo made 4 of their 5 kicks to win the region and eliminate Boerne from the playoffs.
Boerne ends the year at 26-4-2 and suffers its first playoff loss in four years.
The Hounds won the last two state titles in 2022 and 2021. Nobody played in the postseason in 2020 because of COVID, leaving La Grange as the last team to beat the Hounds in the postseason before Saturday when they did it in 2019 by the score of 1-0.
It’s been a great run by the Greyhounds but Hidalgo was able to end their reign on penalty kicks.
Before it got to that point, the Hounds broke through for a 1-0 lead with a goal in the first half after Jess Gonzales kicked a corner that Brett Hettie was able to finish.
BHS held the lead until the middle of the second half when Hidalgo tied it after they scored with 16:52 remaining in the match.
Neither team scored in the final 17 minutes of regulation so it went to overtime.
Ezekiel Price scored a goal to put Boerne up 2-1 with 5 minutes left in the first OT period, but Hidalgo was able to answer again. The Pirates knocked in the equalizer a minute later and it was knotted up at 2-2.
Neither team scored in the second OT, so it went to penalty kicks where the Pirates came out strong. Each team has five players that kick and Hidalgo made its first two attempts.
Boerne’s first PK missed but Hettie was their second kicker and converted his PK to make it 2-1. Neither team converted in their third attempt but Hidalgo made it in the fourth round to take a 3-1 lead in PKs.
Bear Kelly came through for BHS and knocked his attempt in and it was 3-2 with one kick left after four rounds.
Boerne needed a stop and also had to convert in the fifth go-round just to tie it but Hidalgo’s player made it to give them 4 converted PKs. Boerne’s fifth kicker, Shae Gonzales, didn’t even get a chance to kick because it wouldn’t have affected the outcome since the Pirates had made 4 PKS and the Greyhounds 2 at that point with one kick left.
That’s where it ended with Hidalgo officially winning the match, 3-2.
Seniors on this year’s Boerne team are Noah LeMaster, Jess Gonzales, Jake Herman, Joe Ballenger, Logan Walter and Sam Gonzales.
Vs. CC London
Boerne’s semifinals match with Corpus Christi London was the last match of the day on Friday and not scheduled to start until 6:30 p.m.
Because of all the weather delays, Boerne’s match didn’t start until 10:30 p.m. and didn’t finish until just past midnight on Saturday morning.
The Hounds were up 1-0 before Joe Ballenger put in an insurance goal for the 2-0 win.
“There were a lot of firsts today, but we were well prepared,” BHS coach Michael Strong said. “We played (London) two years ago, it was a battle then and it was a battle today.”
Comment
Comments