4A
state soccer tourney
GEORGETOWN – The Boerne boys soccer team fell one victory short of winning their third state championship in four seasons.
After claiming gold in 2021 and 2022 at the 4A state tournament, this year’s group returns to Boerne with silver medals after San Elizario defeated the Greyhounds last Friday in the state finals at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown, 1-0.
The 1-0 setback is Boerne’s only loss of the season and leaves them with a record of 23-1 and as the second-best 4A team in the state.
BHS coach Michael Strong said of the three teams he’s taken to state, this one overachieved more than the others.
“No disrespect to this team here but we didn’t have as much team talent as my first and second state runs, but they had something else. They had that love for each other, that grit and that’s how we got to 23-0,” he said. “We weren’t always the best technical team out there but they wanted it.
“Their toughness is second to none, we overachieved and what better compliment can I give to them than they overachieved. They did stuff that they shouldn’t do and guess what? They got second in the state and lost 1-0 to a great San Elizario team, I’m so proud of them.”
After the teams were deadlocked 0-0 at halftime, the Eagles knocked in the only goal of the match in the second half on a Francisco Marquez goal from 25 yards out in the 61st minute on the assist from Angel Valdez.
San Elizario had come close to scoring a few other times, however the BHS defense held until the Marquez goal. “We started running on empty and the wind pinned us in,” Strong said. “We had a couple of mental lapses and at this stage, it’s the team that makes the least amount of mistakes and today San Eli didn’t make the mistakes.”
The Eagles didn’t make many mistakes in the playoffs in general and turned in a clean sheet in the postseason. In seven playoff matches they didn’t allow a single goal. It’s the first time that’s happened in UIL history on the boys or girls side in any classification.
In Friday’s match, San Elizario didn’t allow a shot on goal to the Greyhounds and only gave up one shot to the Hounds in the entire match.
Conversely, the Eagles finished with 13 shots and had 8 shots on goal and put pressure on Boerne’s defense all match. They outshot Boerne on corner kicks, 6-0.
“That’s a good team, a very, very good team. We were able to withstand some of their pressure,” Strong said. “We were running on empty, but credit to the boys for how much work they did. They showed a lot of heart.”
Boerne graduates eight seniors, some of whom were on the two gold-medal winning teams as freshman and sophomores. Seniors are Justin Bain, Jake Pearson, Owen Kalapaca, Caleb Benchoff, Elian Arreola, Brett Hettie, Hudson Vickery and Jarrett Ibarra.
State semifinals Boerne 1, Kilgore 0
Boerne’s Hudson Vickery had the only goal of the match Wednesday afternoon in the Greyhounds’ 4A state semifinals match against Kilgore.
With the wind behind him, Vickery blasted a 60 yarder into the net for the 1-0 win. The senior’s goal came early in the contest, near the 14th minute and was unassisted.
What made it special for Vickery was that Wednesday was his 18th birthday. He said it’s something he’ll remember for a long time.
“Senior year, it means a lot. I haven’t scored any big goals since freshman year and to have three this year and this one, it’s great,” he said. “Their keeper was a little to the left and with the wind, I was like, why not take it?”
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