Girls: Late surge lifts Flower Mound to overtime victory
GEORGETOWN — Fredy Sanguinetti spent about 30 minutes talking to his team after a crushing 5-4 loss to Lewisville Flower Mound in the UIL Class 6A state semifinals Friday.
It was a teachable moment considering the way Cinco Ranch lost. Because unlike the Cougars team that made it to state last year, this one is youthladen.
The bulk of this Cinco Ranch team returns next year hoping to do what has seldom happened since 2000: beat Dallas.
“Like I told them, life sometimes is going to hand you that,” Sanguinetti said of the state semifinal loss. “Do I hate losing this game? Of course we do. We don’t know the reason why, but we have to learn from it.”
Cinco Ranch went from hopeful of a berth in the state championship game to heartache when Alex Augustyn’s goal with 27 seconds left in the second overtime gave Flower Mound the win. Cinco Ranch had a 4-2 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the second half when goals in the 70th and 74th minutes from Flower Mound’s Ashlan Hustava and Augustyn, respectively, forced extra time.
It was Cinco Ranch’s third straight state semifinal appearance overall, but also a third straight semifinal loss to a Metroplex team. Cinco Ranch fell to Dallas Highland Park via penalty kicks last year and Lewisville Hebron in 2014.
The drought continues for Houston girls’ soccer state titles. Since 2000, there have been only three girls’ soccer state champions from the city at the highest classification — The Woodlands in 2010, Katy Taylor in 2006 and Klein Oak in 2003. The rest are from the Metroplex.
“There’s a lot of competition there and in Houston,” said junior midfielder Shaylee Anaya, whose goal in the 65th minute gave Cinco Ranch a 4-2 lead against Flower Mound. “They’re our biggest rivals in everything.”
A brace from junior forward Sophie Salverino got the scoring started early for Cinco Ranch. Freshman Ali Russell’s pass found Salverino, who found the back of the net 17 seconds into the match. Salverino scored in the 22nd minute for a 2-0 Cinco Ranch lead.
But Flower Mound started to apply pressure, and Augustyn’s tying goal came with five minutes left in regulation.
Sanguinetti expects the postgame talk to resonate with his players during the offseason. If anyone gets a chance to end the drought next year, it could be this Cinco Ranch team, which had only three seniors in this year’s starting 11.
“No one believed we could this year,” Salverino said. “I feel like even next year, we’ll have even more heart and desire to win the semifinal. I think we can do it.”