4A Boys Soccer Playoffs: Palestine secures area championship with shutout of Sulphur Springs
Mar. 29—TYLER — The Palestine Wildcats are moving on to the Regional Quarterfinals following their shutout of the Sulphur Springs Wildcats, 3-0, in the Class 4A Area Round.
The Wildcats are area champions for another year and excellent defense mixed with efficient offense has been the recipe that has catapulted them into the next round.
"I thought our defense was exceptional," head coach John Absalom said. "We had a plan and we executed. Offense needs to be a little more patient, but I'll take it."
The Wildcats got on the board in the first 11 minutes of the game with a goal from Andy Garcia. Ty Carnes found Tony Garcia in the box who sent a header towards Andy Garcia who found the bottom left pocket of the net.
The Wildcats defense continued to give Sulphur Springs trouble as they were unable to get a clean shot at the goal. Palestine had a few looks at another goal but couldn't convert until Tony Garcia scored their second goal of the game in the final seconds of the first half.
Carnes sent a corner kick towards Tony Sancher who headed the ball to Tony for the goal. Palestine took their 2-0 lead into halftime.
Neither side gave much pull in the second half. The Wildcats third goal didn't come until the last second when Tony Sanchez blasted one in at the buzzer.
"We got a lot of younger guys out there, so this is their first time around." Absalom said. "But they're playing lights out. I think it starts to get easier as the rounds go on, but I'm a lot older. I didn't see nerves. I thought we were more nervous in the first round."
Tuesday's win not only added another area championship trophy to their collection, but it has put them on a collision course with the Kilgore Bulldogs. Despite this just being their third playoff meeting in six seasons, it is the ninth consecutive season the two sides have faced off.
The streak dates back to 2015 where Kilgore defeated Palestine in their season opener. The Wildcats got their revenge the next season where they beat the Bulldogs in penalty kicks during the State Semifinals in route to a state championship.
The back-and-forth exchange continued in 2017 where Kilgore ended Palestine's season in the Regional Quarterfinals round, 4-2.
In 2022, the two played each other three times with Kilgore winning the season series 2-1 and the most important win coming in the Regional Quarterfinals. They met four times in 2018 where Palestine won all four matchups, including their Regional Quarterfinals match, 8-0. Their series streak extended to seven as the Wildcats beat them three straight times from 2019 to 2020.
In 2021, they met twice with the first game ending in a tie and the next ending in a 4-0 win for Kilgore.
Palestine fell last year to Kilgore in the Regional Quarterfinals on final penalty kicks. The Bulldogs are currently riding a 16-game win streak with wins over Diboll in the Bi-District round and Pleasant Grove in the area round. They beat both teams by a combined score of 12-0.
The Bulldogs are currently the second-ranked team in Class 4A behind Palestine.
