College Station's history-making run ends as 5A-I state runner-up
GEORGETOWN - The College Station boys soccer team's history-making run led the Cougars all the way to state, but the run ended with a 2-0 loss to Prosper Walnut Grove in the Class 5A Division I championship game Friday at Birkelbach Field.
"They're good," College Station head coach Chad Peevey said. "They're a talented team and we say it comes down to just putting the ball in the back of the net [on] those few chances. And they have a heck of a goalkeeper that was going up and getting the ball, too. They limited our chances really well."
The Cougars (16-8-4) came in as first-timers to state while the Wildcats were defending champs. Prosper Walnut Grove (31-0) also came in riding a 45-game win streak, not losing since a 4-1 defeat to Frisco Wakeland on April 2, 2024.
The only blemishes to make that win streak not even longer were two ties.
College Station was undaunted though and hung tough for the majority of the first half, but the Wildcats broke the tie right before the break. A free kick attempt by Prosper Walnut Grove from 21 yards bounced off College Station's wall of defenders and went straight to the Wildcats' Isaac Marah.
Marah put it into the right corner of the net to put the Wildcats up 32 minutes, 55 seconds into the half.
It didn't take nearly as long for the second goal as state title game most valuable player Mason Kutch scored just two minutes into the second half.
Kutch's goal made it even tougher for the Cougars to claw their way back into it as College Station had zero shots on goal in the first half, a trend that continued over the final 40 minutes.
College Station sophomore midfielder Tomas Dominguez said it was a great experience playing for the state title.
"They already came back here back-to-back, so they got the experience especially all the players that scored, [and they] played well," Dominguez said. "The same thing for us. I think we're just trying to gain experience for us for next year so we can be a better team, we can have better chemistry, not only us but coach, everybody, the fans."
College Station's previous deepest playoff run was a trip to the 2023 regional finals. The Cougars also were the first boys team from Bryan-College Station to make a state championship game.
College Station had lost in the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons but won five postseason games this year, nearly matching the six victories the Cougars had in 17-5A.
The Cougars, who finished fourth in league play at 6-3-3, defeated Porter, Angleton, Victoria West, Springs Woods and Southwest Legacy in the postseason.
"It shows that it doesn't matter where you start but it's where you end off," College Station junior midfielder Samuel He said. "We just got to keep working hard."
This was the last game for College Station's 11 seniors.
That includes goalkeeper Asher Kalke, defender Brandon Burns, midfielder Kevin Alvarado, midfielder Joseph Rychetsky, forward Jorge Flores, defender Rafael Bicalho, defender Cayden Tapley, defender Daniel Gonzalez, defender River Chai, forward Elliot McGlone and forward Hans Park.
They'll have big shoes to fill but there's plenty of optimism going forward as the Cougars have 10 of their 11 starters returning. The lone senior starter on Thursday was Burns.
"That's one of the big things we talk about each year about leaving a legacy, trying to make history and this senior class just made a bunch of history and it's going to be hard for this next class to top them," Peevey said. "But I'm along for the ride if we can."
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