Midlothian Heritage’s back-to-back state title run stopped by Celina in shootout
Exactly one year ago Wednesday, Midlothian Heritage beat Celina in the state semifinals. Their rematch was set in the Class 4A girls soccer state championship on Thursday.
It didn’t disappoint.
In one of the best games of the season, Heritage was able to erase a 3-1 deficit and force overtime before ultimately falling in a shootout against Celina, 5-4 (5-3 PKs), at Birkelbach Field.
The Jaguars finish the season 22-4-3.
They were looking for back-to-back titles and a third since 2018.
“It’s not what we wanted so it’s disappointing. Any program would take this. Our expectations is state champions,” Heritage coach Gerald Slovacek said. “We battled just like we have all year long. We made some mistakes, but continued to battle. We gave up some opportunities at times that weren’t great. We just couldn’t finish it.
“Very proud of our girls. The determination all year long was incredible. The fight was there. We felt like we had them worn out, just couldn’t finish the game.”
Celina (29-1-1), meanwhile, wins the program’s first state championship. Last season’s trip to the state semifinals was also a first for the Bobcats, who had been knocked out of the playoffs by Heritage the past three times.
Sophomore Jules Burrows was taken down in the box and scored on a penalty kick to give Heritage a 4-3 lead in the 87th minute of overtime. Burrows was also fouled in the box by Celina keeper Kaitlyn Gustafson in the 76th minute. Gustafson received a yellow card and Rose Giambruno-Fuge buried the try past Celina’s back-up keeper to even the score at 3-3.
Gustafson would get some redemption though.
Leading 4-3 in the second overtime, the Heritage defense couldn’t clear a ball and Celina tied it in the 93rd minute. Senior forward Taylor Zdrojewski found Brielle Buchanan, who dribbled to the end line and tapped in the shot to the far side to make it 4-4.
“I give credit to Celina. They’re a good team. It’s hard to repeat, but we gave it all we could,” Slovacek said.
The game went into penalty kicks and after Zdrojewski drilled the first attempt, Heritage’s first PK was stopped by Gustafson, who finished with nine total saves.
Zdrojewski, who’s committed to Texas Tech, scored two goals in regulation for her 61st and 62nd goals of the season, and was voted MVP of the game. Zdrojewski set a state record last season with 114 goals.
It took less than three minutes for Celina to take a 1-0 lead.
Zdrojewski scored in the upper left 90 past the out reach hands of diving Heritage keeper Tanner Sorenson.
The Jaguars trailed 1-0 in Wednesday’s semifinal before beating Lumberton 4-1.
They also trailed 1-0 in the regional final before beating Argyle 2-1.
But Celina, which lost to Heritage 1-0 last season, took a 2-0 lead in the 29th minute when Madi Vana got a pass, dribbled for about 10 yards and crushed an attempt 30 yards out that scored in the upper right corner.
The Jags got some momentum back before intermission when Giambruno-Fuge finished off a Kerry Scott assist. She hit the upper right corner that was just high enough to beat Gustafson.
“I knew we would come back and we did like we have all year long,” Slovacek said. “We had some momentum there, just couldn’t get it done. But the intensity from our girls was there like it has all year.”
Heritage then trailed 3-1 in the 51st minute when Zdrojewski flicked a 50-yard free kick by Mia Norman over a Heritage defender and its keeper. But less than 30 seconds later, Burrows sped past three defenders and slipped the ball past the keeper near the far post to cut it to 3-2.
Heritage edged out Celina in shots (16-15) and shots on goal (13-9).
Burrows, last year’s state championship MVP, had seven shots with five on goal.
Zdrojewski had eight shots, four on goal.
“Like I said, we batted, the seniors have given us so much and they’ll be missed,” Slovacek said. “The fight in that group, the leadership throughout these last four years was incredible.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 7:09 PM.