Spartans’ scoring spree clinches return to state
Solidifying its No. 1 ranking with a secondhalf scoring spree Saturday, Katy Seven Lakes is back in the state boys soccer tournament for the second straight season.
The Spartans scored five goals in the final 40 minutes to race past Dobie, 6-0, in the Region 3-6A championship match.
“I think that’s the best high school team I’ve ever seen,” Dobie head coach Justo Manrique said.
Aidan Morrison, Kortay Koc, Noa Stasic, Diego Flamenco and Sebastian Ranz provided that second-half punch to send Seven Lakes (26-1-1) into the final four in Georgetown.
In the end, though, all the Spartans needed was Daniel Ejerenwa’s goal in the 14th minute, when he scored on a header off a corner kick from Morrison.
“I thought that goal was going to lift everybody up,” Ejerenwa said. “It was just a start of a
6-0 run.”
Dobie (24-1-4) seemed to lose its focus at the outset of the second half when captain Jordi Garcia wasn’t able to return after suffering a concussion in the first half.
Once the second half began, it was all Seven Lakes.
Morrison scored on a rebound of his penalty kick in the box for a 2-0 cushion in the 52nd minute and Koc scored just six minutes later.
The goals then came fast and furious from Stasic and Flamenco while Ranz scored with just a minute remaining to cap a stellar outing from the Spartans.
Ejerenwa said to expect a different Seven Lakes team at the state tournament this season than the one which lost 3-2 to Plano last year.
“We’ve been there before and we know exactly what’s at stake,” Ejerenwa said. “We know what we have to do to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes as last year.”
The Woodlands’ streak ends
AUSTIN — The Woodlands lost for the first time in 21 games, falling to Sachse, 2-1, in the Class 6A Region II final.
The Woodlands (233-2) was making its ninth regional championship appearance and hoping for a return to the state tournament.
The Woodlands was set back in the 18th minute as it allowed just its second goal in five playoff games. Sachse got on a breakaway as Tanner Tea pushed into the box and slid a pass to Cooper Tea, who finished for the early advantage.
Right out of halftime, Sachse went up two goals.
On a throw-in into the box from Tea, Roberto Diaz was the eventual recipient of a redirected ball towards the net. Diaz flicked it over the goalkeeper in the 42nd minute.
“They were great,” The Woodlands senior Gaspar Markez said. “They gave their all and were quick. We were coming from behind and that second goal in the second half really threw us off. We were able to react – we got a goal back – but in the end they had great defense and held it back down.”