Round Rock, other area teams advance to regional tourneys

PFLUGERVILLE — Kaiya Bullock scored two goals in a three-minute span midway through the first half to lead District 25-6A champion Round Rock to a 3-0 win over District 26-6A champion Anderson in a Class 6A girls regional quarterfinal playoff game at The Pfield on Tuesday.

Sloane Guion added the third Dragons goal and assisted on the first Bullock goal. Playing on a windswept pitch, Round Rock (19-0-4) advanced to the regional tournament for the third time in four years, while Anderson capped an extremely successful season with back-to-back playoff appearances after moving up from Class 5A.

Trojans coach Emily Horvath has led Anderson (16-4-3) to a 45-11-8 record with two district championships in the past three seasons.

“I am extremely proud of this group of seniors,” Horvath said. “They have really played well, and moving up into Class 6A, they showed tremendous improvement this year to win district.”

The two teams played evenly the first 18 minutes of the match as strong winds impacted the long passing games for both teams. The winds blew across the field most of the first half then settled into a more northwesterly wind for the second half.

“We were out of sync to start the first half,” said Round Rock head coach Chad Aldrich. “Anderson is a good team, and they were disrupting our ball movement, so we needed to adjust and get back into our game. Kaiya really did a great job on both goals. She is positively dominant for us.”

The first Dragons goal came midway through the first half when Guion intercepted an Anderson pass, moved the ball up field and delivered a brilliant through pass to Bullock, who juked around a defender and kicked the ball into the Trojan net for the first score of the night. Shortly thereafter, Bullock located a loose ball and rocketed her second goal of the night for a 2-0 Dragons lead.

“In a word, this team is about grit,” Aldrich said. “We have had several serious and some other nagging injuries, including losing all-state Alexis Montgomery to season-ending knee surgery. Graduation took four Division I players, but this team has just pulled together and gotten better every match. They rally beat a good team tonight.”

Leading 2-0, the Dragons managed a third goal with 12:43 left in the contest when Guion launched a free kick from nearly 40 meters out that deflected into the Anderson goal for the final margin.

“Sloane is just incredible,” Aldrich said. “She is playing on an injured ankle and was just magnificent tonight.”

Rouse 2, Cedar Park 1: Alise Martin and Kylie Snell scored to send the Raiders to the regional tournament in Class 5A.

Leander 1, Liberty Hill 0: Paige Davis scored in extra time off an assist from Kate Horvath to give the Lions the win. It marked Davis' 50th career goal. Alyse Kavanaugh had the shutout in goal.

Georgetown 3, McCallum 1: The Eagles are back to the regional tournament for the second straight year after knocking off the Knights. Dennie Decker, Finley Newell and Libby Benson all scored for Georgetown, with Newell adding an assist.

Giddings 2, Lorena 0: Audrey Nicks and Makinley Kylberg tallied goals for the Buffaloes.

Others advancing: Westlake, Rouse, Leander and Georgetown also won Tuesday night to advance to regional tourneys.

HENRY HUEY/SPECIAL TO AMERICAN-STATESMAN Sloane Guion lines up a kick for Round Rock. The Dragons won a regional quarterfinal playoff match 3-0 against Anderson at The Pfield in Pflugerville on Tuesday.