Seven Lakes wins state again
Spartans become the first to repeat as 6A champions since classification was created in 2014
GEORGETOWN — Was there ever a doubt in the Seven Lakes’ boys soccer team?
Nope.
Not when Lewisville Flower Mound scored in the 69th minute to tie the UIL Class 6A state final Saturday evening and eventually force overtime. Not when Seven Lakes senior defender Aidan Morrison stepped up to deliver a free kick with two minutes left in overtime.
And definitely not when it came to adding another chapter to program history.
Morrison buried the 30yard free kick with ease, and Seven Lakes held off Flower Mound 2-1 in overtime at Birkelbach Field for its second straight state championship.
Last year, the Spartans became the first Katy ISD boys soccer team to win a state championship.
This year, the Spartans became the first boys soccer team to repeat as state champs in Class 6A, the UIL’s largest classification which was introduced in the fall of 2014.
“It’s unreal,” said Morrison, who was named the Class 6A boys soccer state tournament Most Valuable Player. “You can’t explain the feeling when you win like this. Nothing in my life compares. I’ve never felt this way before.
“I came in as a freshman not knowing what the state tournament was. To come out on top and win MVP at the biggest high school soccer tournament in Texas, it’s something I would have never thought.”
Seven Lakes finished its season 25-1-2. It won for the 54th time in its last 55 matches, dating back to last season, in making its third consecutive state appearance.
“All that stuff was a bonus, because all I wanted to do was get as much time with these guys as I could and making it to the last day was everything,” Seven Lakes coach Jimmy Krueger said. “The added (bonus) is the storyline, wrapping up the chapter of a sensational senior class.”
Morrison and forward Noa Stastic, four-year varsity lettermen, played in 92 career wins as Spartans, including 16 playoff wins.
“It’s a relief. I love these guys and I love this program,” said Stasic, who scored the Spartans’ first goal unassisted from 21 yards out to the back left post in the 48th minute, his second tally of the tournament. “We did this with a smile on our face. We went through it as a family. At no point did we point fingers or blame each other if anything went wrong. We battled.”
After Stasic put Seven Lakes ahead early in the second half, it looked like it would be enough.
Playing with the wind, the Spartans were able to push the ball down the field and generate chance after chance.
Seven Lakes bested Flower Mound in total shots (20-10), shots on goal (10-4) and had the same amount of corner kicks (6-6).
But all Region I champ Flower Mound (23-3-2) needed was an opening, no matter how slight, and it found one with 11 minutes to spare in regulation when senior forward Landon DeLeeuw connected from the 6-yard line on a header off a perfectly placed long throw-in from senior defender Carter Simpson.
It was the third assist of the state tournament for Simpson, whose terrific long throw-ins anchored the Jaguars’ attack.
DeLeeuw’s goal tied the game at 1-1, which is where regulation finished. But the Spartans’ faith never wavered.
Not through the first scoreless 10-minute period of extra time, and not through the first seven minutes of the second 10minute period.
“We score goals. We’re confident,” Krueger said of a club that has scored 100plus goals in each of the last two seasons. “We’ll face the adversity. We’re confident in our ability to score goals. We were confident in us going into (PKs).”
Morrison ensured a shootout would not be necessary.
“Everyone on the sideline said, ‘Goal,’” Krueger said. “I saw the way the wall was set up. The right side of the goal was open for him. I was 99.99% sure it was over right there. No one deserves it more.”
Before he shot it, Morrison told Stasic it was going in.
“No doubt at all,” Stasic said. “That’s all there is to it. Perfect.”
The Spartans held off a late flourish from the Jaguars, including an incredible save by senior goalkeeper Ben Aviles Vera on a shot off a corner kick in the final minute.
“We’ve gone out four years, put everything we’ve had on the field, and to see it all come together … when that last final whistle blew, it was amazing,” senior forward Daniel Ejerenwa said. “For four years, the grind, not just in-season but the summer workouts, all the hard stuff … I’m happy, but I’m sad to see it come to an end.
“Everything came