CORPUS CHRISTI — The Boerne and Progreso boys soccer match in Saturday’s regional finals at Cabaniss Field looked like it might be headed to overtime, and perhaps a shootout, but the combination of Brett Hettie and Shae Gonzales saved the day for the Greyhounds.
With just over eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Greyhounds were awarded a corner kick and took advantage of the opportunity.
Gonzales crossed it towards the back post where Hettie headed it in for the only goal of the game.
The 1-0 lead held until the end to give Boerne the win and vault them to this year’s 4A state tournament, their third in four seasons.
Boerne plays Kilgore Wednesday at 4 p.m. The winner plays for the 4A title Friday at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of Navasota and San Elizario.
Hettie said he knew Gonzales would put the ball where it needed to be.
“I told him to find me because they weren’t marking me up. I trust Shae, he was going to get it there and I got to it first,” Hettie said. “It’s exactly how we drew it up, I knew it was going to be back post and I knew it was going to be there.”
Progreso put up quite a fight despite being down a few players after they were ejected the previous day for fighting in the regional semifinals match. The Red Ants received three red cards for the fight but had players step up Saturday and they played the Greyhounds tough.
BHS head coach Michael Strong gave credit to Progreso for playing so well.
“That’s a team that really wanted to win for those guys that were out, that’s the great equalizer in sports – motivation,” Strong said. “That team would have been terrifying with those three that had to sit out. Fortunately we were able to sneak out a 1-0 win.”
BHS enters Wednesday’s state semifinals contest with a record of 22-0.
There are no guarantees that a team will get to state, but Strong said that’s the standard they try to play to.
“It’s not an assumption, but it’s a standard that we play into April,” he said. “Getting knocked out last year (in the regional finals) was the motivation to get back to our standard.”
Strong has been able to get different groups to state and he said when talented players graduate, others have taken their place and that’s been one of their keys to success.
“You’re going to lose really good players every year but others are going to step up,” he said. “The players returning get a year bigger, stronger, older, faster and better, and they’re always eager to step up and fill the shoes of the kid that left in front of them.”
Vs. Hidalgo
Friday’s semifinals match featured Boerne and Hidalgo, the winner of the last three state championships.
Boerne won state in 2021 and 2022 and the Pirates won it in 2023 after defeating the Greyhounds in the regional finals in a shootout, but Hidalgo was hit hard by graduation and they have a new coach.
The Greyhounds were leading 3-1 but Hidalgo made a late push and pulled within a goal at 3-2.
Boerne’s Hadden Silva was filling in for goalkeeper Ben Neidecken after Neidecken left with a head injury. Neidecken returned to the sideline after getting medical attention but the coach let Silva finish out the match.
Strong said Silva did a great job.
“He did everything he had to do to get us here. I’m so proud of him, it’s the most nerve-racking thing in all of sports, to come in as a back-up goalkeeper in a regional semifinals game,” he said. “He knew the shots were coming and he was going to be under pressure and he answered the call.”
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