Faith girls soccer captures 4-peat, Covenant boys win title and more from Fort Worth area
Boys
Houston The Village School 2, Nolan Catholic 0
Nolan Catholic couldn’t quite get its offense going on Tuesday in Round Rock.
The Village School led 1-0 at intermission and then scored in the 44th minute as the Vikings lost in the TAPPS Division 1 title game.
“Neither team played a perfect game, but [The Village School] is a really good team. All the credit to them,” Nolan coach Sean Eddington said. “They made it tough on us and we made it tough on ourselves with some mistakes and losing our composure which was the turning point.
“We lost 2-0 and on paper it looks like an easy win, but 11 versus 11, we went back and forth with them. It just kind of got away from us.”
Nolan ends the season 12-5-1.
The Vikings did win a district title.
They lose just three starters and five seniors overall, making the future bright for Eddington’s squad.
“We were a young team this year and going into the season we didn’t have much expectations,” he said. “We were still a good team, but we weren’t sure how far in the playoffs we’d go. We were still optimistic.
“They’re a very competitive group who play with a lot of passion. They play together and for each other which has got us here.”
Eddington credits the first-round win over El Paso Cathedral as a sign that his Vikings could go on a playoff run.
Nolan had been knocked out of the playoffs by Cathedral each of the past five seasons.
“Beating them, beating a good team like that it triggered us and let us know that we could have something special,” Eddington said.
Colleyville Covenant 5, Cypress Christian 3
The Covenant Cougars beat Cypress to win the TAPPS D3 state championship in Round Rock. It’s the program’s first state title since winning back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.
“We only made the playoffs once in the last four seasons. So it’s a big jump to step up and win state and we’re really pleased,” coach Mark Scannell said.
“When we beat Dallas Covenant on PKs at home, the former state champs, I realized that if we could beat them, we had a chance with anyone in the state if we played our best.”
Cypress quickly scored just three minutes in on a throw in and header. Kyle Milligan scored in the 15th minute for Covenant with a shot from the edge of the box that went directly into the corner of the net.
The Cougars took their first lead 2-1 on a Victor Mooney goal. He scored on a volley inside the box that came off a cross. That goal came in the 22nd minute.
“We just stayed calm and kept creating chances,” Scannell said. “No point in the game did we stop creating chances. We continued to attack them. We were able to cause some trouble and steady their defensive shift. We dealt with one or two threats, but felt like we were in control for most of the game.”
Cypress tied it six minutes later.
Covenant got one more goal just before intermission in the 36th minute. Oliver Hautanen hit a power shot into the bottom left corner. Hautanen added a second goal in the second half. He scored 12 goals in four playoff matches.
Peyton Milligan gave Covenant a 4-2 lead with a follow up shot off the keeper in the 54th minute.
Scannell graduates only one senior.
FW Arlington Heights 2, FW South Hills 1
The Yellowjackets scored on a penalty kick in the 50th minute and then hung on late to beat the Scorpions in a District 7-5A slate.
It was Heights’ senior night and final home game of the regular season.
Thanks to Poly’s win over North Side, Heights secured a playoff berth. With Wyatt’s win over Saginaw, the Jackets jumped from fourth place to third.
Heights faces North Side on Friday.
Heights was on the early attack with three corners and a short free kick within the first six minutes.
South Hills got on the board first in the 10th minute when a corner kick attempt went directly into the net.
The Jackets continued to pressure and tied it at 1-1 in the 13th minute. Heights had a throw in that was somewhat cleared by South, but Brian Estupinan booted the rebound.
Heights broke a 1-1 tie when the Scorpions were called for a foul in the box. Joshua Herreta took the penalty kick and found the back of the net.
South Hills had several chances to tie it, but each time it was either punched away or cleared from Heights.
FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis 4, FW Dunbar 0
The Eagles shut out the Wildcats on senior night to help DHJ clinch the district championship.
Ricardo Gonzalez had a goal and two assists for DHJ.
Alex Ibarra scored and added an assist. Cristian Alvarez and Jorge Romero also netted goals.
Juan Vega and Cesar Ortiz combined for the shutout in goal.
Girls
Grapevine Faith 2, Austin St. Michael’s 1 OT
The Faith Lions won the TAPPS D2 state title, the program’s fourth consecutive championship, on Tuesday in Round Rock.
Senior Malia McCaleb scored with less than two minutes left in overtime to break the 1-1 tie. McCaleb received a cross from junior Reagan Hudnall and booted the ball about 18 yards away.
“I know it’s very special to her. She finished it in a great way,” coach Cat Meyer said of McCaleb.
“It’s still fresh in my brain. This season wasn’t an easy road. I told them in the beginning of the season what it will take to win another state championship. We won district and it all started to click. They’re not going to forget this game.”
St. Michael’s took a 1-0 lead into half on a goal in the 27th minute.
It took nearly 70 minutes for Faith to get on the board and the Lions tied it at 1-1 with a score from sophomore Taylor Sal, who found the back of the net on a corner from junior Caitlyn Burks.
“It was just a matter of time. They never lost hope. After that first goal, we started to break them down. We weren’t afraid of them,” Meyer said.
McCaleb, Maya Cosby and Lauren Halverson are the Faith players to win four state championships.
Faith ends the season with a 17-3 record. The Lions also beat St. Michael’s in last season’s championship match. The program also won a title in 2017 and has reached the state final four in seven straight seasons.
“This group was gritty. They won four playoff games in seven days and each round was more competitive,” said Meyer, who graduates five seniors. “Our motto is whatever it takes to win and they did that. A lot of times this season we went down first, but bounced back.”
Birdville 7, Richland 0
The Hawks put up their second most goals of the season during their District 6-5A win over the Royals.
Veronica Pacione recorded the hat trick with three goals while McKinnan Braswell had three assists.
Birdville currently sits in third place in district with 26 points. Lake Dallas is fourth with 22 and Colleyville Heritage is second with 29.
Celine Diaz (2), Claire Jacobson and Rachel Stiles also netted goals for the Hawks, who clinched a playoff berth for the 19th straight season.
Chloe Mendiola, Diaz and Rylee Brown (2) recorded assists and Mackenzi Goen picked up the win in goal.
LD Bell 2, FW Paschal 0 (Monday)
Bell scored two second-half goals and the Blue Raiders beat the Panthers to clinch the District 3-6A championship for the second straight season.
Bell improved to 13-0 in district.
The Raiders had more chances in the first half, but Paschal did a good job at making stops and clearing the ball out.
Paschal was called for a foul in the box and Camryn Adams scored on the PK in the 43rd minute. Albertha Matafadi scored her 27th goal of the season to up the Bell lead to 2-0 with 30 minutes to play.
Joshua 1, Cleburne 0
The Owls broke a scoreless tie when Bella Cook found Graycen Rasmussen for a strike in the 38th minute and Joshua held on to beat the Yellowjackets in District 14-5A.
Johsua moved up from second place into first with one game left. The Owls will play at Midlothian in the final regular season game for the district championship.
Rasmussen, who is signed to play at Lubbock Christian, has scored over 40 goals this season.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 7:17 PM.
