Keller, a 4-seed, knocks off district champ Byron Nelson; Centennial edges Colleyville Heritage
Keller 2, Byron Nelson 0
District 4-6A champion Byron Nelson has only dropped two matches all season long.
Unfortunately, both times have come against Keller.
The Indians, No. 4 seed from 4-6A, upset the Bobcats Friday night at Dragon Stadium in Southlake. They advance to the 6A Region 1 semifinals against Flower Mound Marcus, a 1-0 winner over Hebron.
Kathryn Burnell got Keller on the board in the 25th minute with a ball that just scooted past the Byron goal keeper. The Indians had a chance to go up 2-0 when Byron was called for a hand ball inside the box.
“You get to this point, it boils down to who wants it the most and our girls wanted it more,” Keller coach Billy Griffiths said. “Once we scored first, they were pressing really hard to get that goal back and I think it created some problems. They were almost trying too hard so thank goodness we got the goal first.”
With five minutes left before the break, Keller took the PK, but Byron goalie Raelyn Stone made the stop.
A Keller free kick from 55 yards out hit the top of the post. Byron got a shot off in the 51st minute, but Keller freshman keeper Sydney Fuller got a finger on the ball to set up a corner attempt.
“They’re our rivals so going out we wanted to get back at them from the last game,” Fuller said. “As a team, we worked hard and wanted it really bad. Defense is just as successful as I am. I can’t be there without them. We all just wanted to keep them out of the net.”
The Bobcats had another prime opportunity in the 59th minute, but Keller defender Anna Smith got her body in front of a shot attempt that later went out of bounds. One minute later and disaster struck for the Bobcats when they scored an own goal to push Keller’s lead to 2-0.
Fuller continued to play lights out with four or five more stops to finish the game.
Keller defeated Byron 2-1 in the first round of district. Byron won Game 2, 1-0.
Burleson Centennial 1, Colleyville Heritage 0
It took every bit of 80 minutes Friday afternoon for Burleson Centennial to hold off Colleyville Heritage in a Class 5A Region 1 quarterfinal at Mustang-Panther Stadium.
With Sarah Tate’s goal in the 39th minute and stellar defense by the back row and goal keeper Olivia Yeoman, the Spartans edged out the Panthers and head to the regional semifinals for the second time in program history (2019).
Centennial, No. 5 in the final Fort Worth-area high school soccer rankings, improves its record to 21-3-1 overall and will face Amarillo (16-1-2) in the fourth round.
“We knew coming in they had speed and were dangerous offensively,” Centennial coach Heather McMahan said. “First half we were kind of tired and sitting back too much, but after our halftime talk, we turned it around and played our game. The shoutout was huge.”
Both teams had their chances to score during the first 30 minutes, but Centennial’s Olivia Yeoman and Colleyville Heritage’s Juliana Grider made key stops. An attempt by CHHS senior Karalie Morrison went off the top post in the 25th minute. Another CHHS attempt just went wide in the 37th minute.
Finally, the Spartans scored when Tate booted a kick from the right side of the field about 15 yards out. Grider leaped and got a hand on the ball, but it was high enough that it dropped into the net with 10 seconds remaining on the first-half clock.
Centennial elevated the offense with a pair of attempts early in the second half.
It wasn’t until the 71st minute when the Panthers got a shot off that went wide right.
The Panthers gave it all they had in the final minutes with three or four attempts plus a corner, but Yeoman and company were able to hold off for the shutout.
“Main part of shutting them down was keeping our pressure up,” Yeoman said. “We were vocal on the back line especially me. We did a good job talking communicating.”
Midlothian Heritage 6, Benbrook 0
Benbrook’s best playoff run came to an end against the Jaguars in the Class 4A Region 1 quarterfinals Friday at Dragon Stadium. Benbrook ends the year with a 19-4 record.
As for Heritage, the Jaguars (23-1) advance to the regional semifinals for the third straight postseason. They will get Stephenville in the fourth round.
Heritage scored four goals to take a 4-0 lead at halftime.
Jules Burrows, Rachel Allen, Logan Beruman, Kerry Scott and Brynn Pollock scored. Riley Click had two assists.
“Been a great season. Senior class is the first class to get to the playoffs a few years ago so it was nice to see them get some wins with some playoff experience,” Benbrook coach Robby Roberts said. “It’s a great group of girls and I couldn’t be prouder to coach them.”
Benbrook won the district title while posting a district goal differential of 91-0.
The Bobcats will graduate just two seniors.
“Hopefully the expectation is to be back here and see Heritage again and give them a run,” Roberts said.
Haslet Eaton 4, Southlake Carroll 1
For the first time since 2018, there will be a new Class 6A girls soccer champion as the Eagles took down their district counterpart in a Region 1 quarterfinal at Northwest ISD Stadium.
Carroll won the UIL 6A title in 2019 while the pandemic canceled the playoffs in 2020.
Eaton is enjoying its best run in program history. The Eagles, who scored all four goals in the first half, will play Flower Mound in the regional semis at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Dragon Stadium in Southlake.
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 11:42 PM.
