Stephenville faces Athens in girls soccer semifinals

Advertisement

 By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (April 9, 2017) — Don’t know much about the UIL State Soccer Tournament?

That’s okay; since Stephenville is making its first appearance at state, we are all in this together.


Advertisement

The Honeybees won a shootout 3-1 over No. 1 Kennedale in the Region I-4A final Saturday at Birdsville Fine Arts and Athletics Complex, solving a level dispute that was still 0-0 after regulation and two overtimes. Kennedale had won each of the last two state titles.

Stephenville (23-4) meets Athens (15-10-1) in a state semifinal at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Birkelbach Field, the site for the entire tournament. The other semifinal is between Jasper (26-1) and Boerne (20-4-1) at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winners compete for the championship at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.


Advertisement

Athens won its regional final in less dramatic fashion, 6-2 over Terrell. The big win for Athens came in a shootout against perennial power Kilgore following a 4-4 draw. Stephenville and Athens do have a pair of common opponents. Kennedale defeated Athens 7-1, and Brownwood blanked Athens 3-0. Stephenville is a combined 4-1 in four matches with Brownwood and its lone victory over Kennedale.

Stephenville can score, sure, but its a lockdown defense that has anchored the Honeybee side. They have surrendered just seven goals all season, including only one in five playoff wins. Athens, conversely, has outscored opponents 132-65 including 24-8 in five playoff victories.


Advertisement

Jasper and Boerne hang their hats on defense, like Stephenville. Jasper has surrendered 12 goals all season and Boerne just 18. Jasper eliminated Little Cypress-Mauriceville, 2-1, in their regional final, while Boerne took theirs with a 3-2 win over Wimberley.

The last time Stephenville reached a state tournament in any sport other than football (which has a semifinal and championship but not in a one-location tournament format) was in 2003 when the Honeybee volleyball team won its only state title.


Advertisement

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.