Playoff soccer recap (3/25): Timber Creek girls hang tough in upset win over LD Bell

Girls

Keller Timber Creek 1, LD Bell 0

Not a bad week for Timber Creek head coach Taylor May and her Lady Falcons as they opened up the 2022 postseason with an upset win over No. 1 seed and District 3-6A champ Bell on Friday at Birdville.

Timber Creek (9-8-5), which finished fourth in 4-6A and didn’t even clinch a playoff berth until Tuesday, advances to play Odessa Permian in the second round early next week.

Bell drops its only game of the season and ends the year with a 19-1-3 mark.

The Falcons, who beat Keller Central in penalty kicks in Tuesday’s 4-6A play-in game, scored the only goal in the 35th minute off a free kick from Allison Justice. The kick came from 35 yards out and Bell goalkeeper Molly Kinman was able to prevent it from going into the net.

The ball bounced off Kinman and then off the top post. Bell tried to stop or clear the ball, but it bounced right to sophomore Bella Alfaro, who tapped it past the Blue Raiders defense.

“I said we have to get one in right here,” Alfaro said. “Ball bounced out and I crashed into the goalie and touched it in. I felt bad, but I got the ball in. We were celebrating so it’s cool.”

Bell had slightly more chances in the first half and amped up the attack after intermission. The Blue Raiders had several opportunities to score, but like against Central, the Timber Creek back line and goalkeeper Ainslee Douglass frustrated the opposition.

The Raiders got close twice within the first four minutes of the second half, but Timber Creek recovered both times to steal the ball and boot it downfield. Bell senior Albertha Matafadi kicked an attempt that was just high in the 53rd minute. Matafadi had a long free kick that Douglass caught in the 60th minute.

“We had to keep persevering,” Douglass said. “We scored in the first half so throughout the game I had to keep everyone calm and focused to keep that shutout.”

Bell’s Lia Santiago was fouled just outside the box and Matafadi lined one up, but the ball bounced off the Timber Creek wall in the 65th minute.

“It’s been a great week,” said May, who won her first playoff game as a head coach. “Emotions are every where. My girls battled all game. Bell is a great team and very physical like Central. I think that Central game really prepared us for tonight. We did a great job defensively, offensively and really all-around.”

Southlake Carroll 7, Chisholm Trail 0

The Dragons, the top-ranked Fort Worth-area team, showed off their dominance during a Class 6A Region 1 bi-district game over the Rangers on Friday in Justin.

Carroll (16-1-4) will play Wolfforth Frenship in the area round. Frenship shut out El Paso Eastwood 3-0 on Thursday.

Nine minutes into the game, Carroll led 1-0 on a Kenzi Tufts to Zoe Matthews goal. Matthews assisted one to Maddie Khan who made it 2-nil. Maddie Khan then hit her older sister Hanna for a goal and 3-0 lead.

The sisters reversed it with Maddie scoring her second to give the Dragons a 4-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. Hanna Khan got her brace following a Matthews’ pass in the 46th minute. Tufts’ goal made it 6-0 and Carroll went up 7-nil on Payton Wilkerson’s pass to Rebeca Schulz.

Joshua 5, North Forney 0

The Owls won a Class 5A Region 2 bi-district game over the Falcons on Friday in Mansfield.

Joshua (19-2), which finished the regular season No. 2 in the Class 5A Fort Worth-area rankings, will play Hallsville in the second round.

Joshua took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute when Graycen Rasmussen’s corner kick found Maddy Bourzikas’ head for her 19th goal of the season. The lead went to 2-nil in the 20th minute after Ashley Jordan slid a bouncing ball to Bella Cook who scored. Trinity Brown assisted on Bourzikas’ second of the game and 20th of the season to make it 3-0 in the 25th minute.

Bourzikas added another for the hat trick and Rasmussen also scored for her 44th goal of the season, the most of any UIL player in the metroplex.

Keller 5, Weatherford 0

Freshman Holly Storer scored twice and the Indians beat the Kangaroos in a Class 6A Region 1 playoff opener on Friday at Boswell.

Keller improves to 15-1-5 while Weatherford falls to 12-8.

Kat Burnell was active early on first on an assist to Caroline Kauppi for a goal in the seventh minute. Burnell added another assist to Ava Beal to extend the lead to 2-0 in the 19th minute.

It was Burnell’s turn to score on Keller’s third goal of the night when she finished off a Storer cross. Storer scored in the second half on a Baylie Simon assist and added her second goal on a Skylar Belanger pass with 12 minutes left in the match.

Boys

Grapevine 5, Aledo 2

Tanner Anstis scored a brace and the Mustangs, who finished the regular season as the No. 1 Class 5A team in the Fort Worth-area, won the bi-district championship over the Bearcats on Friday at Castleberry.

The Mustangs improved their record to 24-0-2 and will face Fort Worth Wyatt in the area round.

Aledo ends the season 6-13-1.

Grapevine put a hold on Friday’s contest early with a goal within the opening minute from Leo Londe (19 goals this season). The Mustangs continued to find the net with a second goal in the fifth minute and third in the 12th minute, which came off the foot of Joseph Avila.

Anstis scored his first goal to up the Grapevine lead to 4-nil one minute after Avila’s score. Clay Murador scored both times for the Bearcats, the second cutting the lead to 4-2 with 26 minutes to play.

But three minutes later, Anstis scored his second to give Grapevine a 5-2 edge.

LD Bell 2, Southlake Carroll 0

James Kebaso scored two goals and the Blue Raiders eliminated the Dragons in a Class 6A Region 1 bi-district game on Friday at Birdville.

According to The Athletics Department, it’s Bell’s first boys soccer playoff win since 2000.

The Raiders had lost their past eight playoff matches.

“Super proud of these kids. They’ve worked so hard this season,” Bell coach Marty Reeves said.

Bell (16-6-2) will play El Paso Socorro in the second round.

Kebaso set the tone early with his first goal to finish off a Maddox Olatunde pass just inside the box in the fifth minute.

“We were able to catch them off guard and finish on the back post,” Reeves said. “We’ve been working on that all week. We knew it would be available to us and they just executed it.”

Kebaso scored his second goal with seven minutes left in the match.

“This team is crazy and we can beat anyone,” he said. “At the end of the day, rankings, history, none of that matters to us. It’s on the field and those 80 minutes. We leave everything on the field.”

Carroll had several chances to tie, but Bell’s back line and goalkeeper Aiden Hollander recorded the shutout. Hollander picked up 17 saves, including a number of punch outs on Dragon corner attempts.

One corner came in the second half when Hollander punched the ball away and one of his teammates was able to head a Carroll shot away.

“This team can fight,” Hollander said. “I love this group with all my heart. I would do anything for all these guys.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 9:35 PM.