Midlothian Heritage returns to girls soccer state title game with monster second half

Midlothian Heritage had nothing to worry about.

The Jaguars were in this position less than a week ago.

The wind also helped.

Heritage trailed 1-0 at halftime only to come out of the break and score four goals in the second half to knock off Lumberton 4-1 in a UIL Class 4A girls soccer state semifinal on Wednesday at Birkelbach Field.

“The determination of this team is unreal,” Heritage coach Gerald Slovacek said. “I didn’t really have any doubt. I knew in the second half they would put it together and they responded.”

The Jags (22-3-3) will defend their 2021 title and have a rematch of last season’s state semifinal with Celina (28-1-1) in the 4A championship match at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Georgetown. Celina beat Boerne 3-0 in the first semifinal.

Heritage beat Celina 1-0 last season.

The Jaguars trailed 1-0 against Argyle and rallied for a 2-1 win in the 4A Region 1 final.

With Heritage going against the wind in the first half, it made the Jags’ task a little more difficult. However, they got off eight shots and four corners, both better than the Raiders.

But the wind did them no favors.

It did for Lumberton, though, in the 10th minute.

With their only corner of the match, the Raiders’ Brooke Denison lined up the kick and her attempt sliced into the net, aided by the wind to give them a 1-0 lead with 30:58 on the clock.

Heritage would hold Lumberton to four shots in the first half and six overall while it got off eight shots in the first half and seven in the second half. The Jags finished with eight corner kicks.

Coming out of halftime, with the wind, it took less than a minute for the Jags to knot the game at 1-1.

Rose Giambruno-Fuge crossed a ball to Burrows, who muscled her way past a Lumberton defender and slipped the ball past the keeper on the far side only 30 seconds after the break.

“Jules is an unbelievable player,” Slovacek said.

It was Burrows’ 19th goal of the season.

Less than five minutes later, Burrows got her 20th after getting a ball from Sydney Dickson. Burrows dribbled past two defenders and slipped it past the keeper on the far post to give Heritage a 2-1 edge in the 45th minute.

“We knew they got lucky with that corner kick and we needed to make it up in the second half,” Burrows said. “The momentum completely shifted for us and we scored another one.”

Lumberton had a chance for a second goal when the Raiders got near the box and a ball bounced off Heritage goalkeeper Tanner Sorenson, who finished with three saves.

Sorenson was 1-on-1 and made a dive before the ball bounced toward the goal, but Heritage defender Paisley Mabra was able to boot it across field before it passed the line.

“We’ve all been playing together for the past two years and have great chemistry. We all play club too so we connect really well,” Mabra said. “It’s awesome. Everybody gets along so well. We love playing the game together.”

The Jags continued to lead with 28 minutes left to play.

Heritage upped the lead to 3-1 in the 57th minute. After Jaidyn Sandefer kicked one from the corner to Maddie Berumen, the latter nailed the goal in the upper left 90 for her fourth goal of the season.

“I saw space. I took it. I hoped for the best,” Berumen said.

One final goal came in the 69th minute when Dickson crossed it in the box and the ball bounced off a Lumberton player’s shin. Maddie Jordan was also there for Heritage.

This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 4:50 PM.