Grapevine girls soccer back in state tournament

Throughout this postseason, Grapevine girls soccer coach Steve McBride had to find out the hard way if his program was going was going to have the fortitude for the fight.

Each round of the postseason presented a much more physical challenge. In the opening seconds of this past Saturday’s Class 5A Region I championship against Wichita Falls Rider, a foul was called.

But it withstood that and other tests, especially since it was the team that every Region I opponent wanted dethroned. Grapevine returns to the state tournament for the second consecutive season.

The Lady Mustangs (19-6-3) play College Station (21-3-3) in the state semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown. Grapevine is the No. 3 seed. The winner advances to Saturday’s 11 a.m. championship against the winner of Frisco Centennial and Cedar Park Vista Ridge.

In 2015, Grapevine fell to eventual state champion Wylie East. Grapevine and College Station are making repeat appearances.

“The No. 1 thing was finding out about our grit,” McBride said. “This has been a tough season because of the injuries and living up to the expectations. We played a team in its home town with its fans. We held up really well.”

Grapevine scored its lone goal fairly early in the second half on a goal from freshman Ashton Wright and then used its defense to deny the Lady Raiders any legitimate hopes of producing the equalizer.

Perhaps the game should not have been as close. Grapevine had several scoring opportunities in the first half but couldn’t convert and went into intermission, 0-0. Following Wright’s goal, the Lady Mustangs had a couple of chances to extend. Senior Sophia Smith enjoyed a very strong performance.

“Obviously, the idea is to score goals,” McBride said. “But this group is maturing in the sense that it understands how to play with a 1-0 lead and doesn’t feel like it has to be pushed. It’s more mental for this group. The concepts and tactics that teams want to bring no longer bothers them.”

Beyond stingy

Defense wins championships. Through its first five postseason games, the Grapevine defense has allowed only one goal. That came on a corner kick in the first half against Saginaw Boswell in the bi-district round on March 24.

The last line of defense of junior Haley Hulse, senior Mac Taylor, sophomore Audrey Alderink and senior McKae Duncan and keeper Katy Hutson have been more than stellar.

“That back four and Katy have risen to the occasion,” McBride said. “We return a lot of veteran leadership on this team. And when you have a lot of that on your back line, it makes a huge difference.”

About College Station

Thursday’s matchup against College Station will be rematch from a contest earlier in the year. The teams played to a 0-0 tie on Jan. 16 in the Round Rock ISD tournament.

If Grapevine were to meet Vista Ridge in the title game, that would also be a rematch. Grapevine won that meeting, 2-1, in the same tournament.

“It’s a team we’re looking forward to playing,” McBride said of College Station. “They’re structurally sound and have moved some people around. But the biggest thing we know is that this is a team we know we can play against.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Grapevine girls soccer back in state tournament."