Grapevine girls late comeback thwarted; Lake Creek outlasts Mustangs’ magic
After failing to score for 64 minutes, the Mustangs found some magic late in the second half.
Grapevine’s Maddison Patton took matters into her own feet, scoring goals in the 64th and 72nd minutes to complete the comeback. But just a couple minutes later, Lake Creek’s Harper Montgomery headed a loose ball to take a 3-2 lead that the Lions maintained in the Class 5A Division II high school girls soccer state championship Friday at Birkelbach Field.
“Unbelievable resiliency,” Grapevine head coach Steve McBride said. “We’ve been doing that all year long. Just sad that we kind of ran out of juice. ... All the credit to Lake Creek. They came out — they were pressing us and getting after us. Put us in a lot of bad situations and out response wasn’t where we needed it to be, and they punished us for it. Kudos to them.”
Grapevine surges from behind, falls short
Lake Creek provided most of the pressure early in the match, keeping the ball in Grapevine’s end and getting off six shots before the Mustangs started pressing in the 26th minute.
Grapevine (18-6-6) had a pair of back-to-back excellent chances late in the first half. In the 35th minute, Lake Creek’s Julz DeWolf was called for a foul on Hope Harvill and given a yellow card. Ella Wilson took the free kick from 23 yards out, straight on, which was saved on a dive by Lions keeper Pyper Johnson.
In the 36th minute, a misplay by Johnson gave Patton a clean shot, but her header went just right of the post. It seemed, however, like the Mustangs found some momentum, and they started to dominate the possession game.
But right when they found a groove, Lake Creek got on the board when a misplayed ball in the Mustangs’ end was collected by Lainy Zabiegala and chipped over the head of Brooke Bereuter in goal in the 39th minute.
“The biggest stage in high school soccer — and we’ve got a bunch of young players that are trying to make plays,” McBride said. “And unfortunately, in that situation, it looked like we were a little bit timid. Didn’t put enough weight on the pass. ... Kudos to [Zabiegala] for putting it away. ... These things happen.”
In the 42nd minute, just after halftime, Zabiegala assisted on a goal by Hallie Montgomery. After not allowing a single goal in the entire playoffs, the Mustangs forfeited a pair of goals in a three-minute span of the first and second halves.
Lake Creek (18-6-2), which had lost to Grapevine 1-0 in an early-season tournament, led 2-0 when Patton went on a stellar individual run. She took a feed from Tori Fiegel in the 64th minute and raced 40 yards down the right hash, with a defender on her hip, before beating Johnson up top to cut the lead to 2-1.
“Maddie, she is a beast,” McBride said. “She gets after it, and she brings the dimension up for us. That changes games. ... Very proud of and very happy for her to have these moments. We needed one more, unfortunately.”
In the 72nd minute, Patton was at it again. The senior blasted a shot from 20 yards out from a sharp angle to the left to the top right corner to tie the game 2-2. The momentum, and delirium, only lasted a couple of minutes, however, as Lake Creek’s Harper Montgomery headed in a loose ball in the goalkeepers box in the 74th minute to put the Lions back up 3-2.
Grapevine was making its fifth appearance in a championship game in the past 11 seasons. The Mustangs have managed one state title, despite the soccer dominance. Grapevine has reached at least the state semifinals eight times in the past 12 trips to the playoffs.
McBride said the 2025-26 team stood out from the rest due to buy-in and resiliency.
State championship scores
Class 4A Division I
GIRLS: Celina 2, Salado 1
[ Celina (26-1-1) Salado (27-2-0) ]
BOYS: Waco La Vega 1, Lake Dallas 0
[ Waco La Vega (27-2-0) Lake Dallas (11-7-6) ]
Class 4A Division II
GIRLS: Wimberley 3, Sunnyvale 1
[ Wimberley (25-2-1) Sunnyvale (24-4-1) ]
BOYS: Bridgeport 5, Brookshire Royal 2 (OT)
[ Bridgeport (22-3-0) Brookshire Royal (28-2-1) ]
Class 5A Division I
GIRLS: Spring Branch Smithson Valley 1, Prosper Walnut Grove 0 (OT)
[ Spring Branch Smithson Valley (29-0-0) Prosper Walnut Grove (23-3-1) ]
BOYS: Prosper Walnut Grove 2, College Station 0
[ Prosper Walnut Grove (31-0-0) College Station (16-8-4) ]
Class 5A Division II
GIRLS: Montgomery Lake Creek 3, Grapevine 2
[Montgomery Lake Creek (18-6-2) Grapevine (18-6-6) ]
BOYS: San Antonio Pieper 1, Frisco Wakeland 0
[ San Antonio Pieper (21-2-5) Frisco Wakeland (26-2-1) ]
Class 6A Division I
GIRLS: Round Rock 3, Keller 1
[ Round Rock (22-2-4) Keller (22-5-1) ]
BOYS: Houston Klein Cain 1, Humble Atascocita 0
[ Houston Klein Cain (19-3-5) Humble Atascocita (20-6-3) ]
Class 6A Division II
GIRLS: Kingwood 2, Forney 1 (SO 4-2)
[ Kingwood (27-0-2) Forney (28-2-0) ]
BOYS: The Woodlands College Park 2, Houston Summer Creek 1 (SO 5-3)
[ The Woodlands College Park (19-3-3) Houston Summer Creek (21-3-6) ]
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 7:07 PM.
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