Western Hills boys race past Carter-Riverside; Southlake Carroll girls continue to roll

The Fort Worth Western Hills boys soccer team had two, close, one-goal games against Fort Worth Carter-Riverside on its way to a second place finish in District 7-4A.

But the third time playing the third-place Eagles turned out to be unexpectedly easy.

It was the farthest both teams had advanced in the playoffs, but the Cougars will take one more step after a 5-1 victory over Carter-Riverside on Friday in a Class 4A Region I quarterfinal at historic Farrington Field.

Western Hills (19-6-0) will face a tough side from San Elizario (22-2-1) in the regional semifinals. The game is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Northwest ISD Stadium in Justin.

Cougar’s midfielder Guadalupe Roman scored two goals in a five-minute span late in the first half and Western Hills (19-6-0) never looked back.

“We’re all excited,” said Roman, a sophomore midfielder whose team defeated Carter-Riverside 2-1 and 1-0 in district play. “We’re on our way to the fourth round. They had us going out this round and they had us going out the last round. We proved them wrong and it has a lot of meaning for us since we’ve never made it this far in the history of the school.”

Roman’s first goal came in the 31st minute. After forcing Carter-Riverside to turn the ball over, Roman created some space, then lofted a soft liner over the head of the Eagles’ goalkeeper from about 20 yards out.

The second goal came in the 36th minute.

“That first goal was just amazing,” said Roman. “I was so surprised when it went in. On the second one Emmanuel (Nshimiyimana) just crossed it in and I headed it home.

“We’re excited just to live this when a lot of people can’t. It’s unbelievable. It’s my dream, my dream to get to state.”

The Cougars dominated play for much of the game and opened the second half with a goal from Hector Palomares from inside 10 yards off another assist by Nshimiyimana.

Carter-Riverside (9-13-4) finally got on the board in the 66th minute when Roberto Venegas was fouled in the box and drilled the penalty kick home, cutting the lead to 3-1.

But Yeshua Muhindo answered immediately for the Cougars with back-to-back goals in the 67th and 71st minutes to put the game away.

“They just kicked our butts,” said Carter-Riverside coach Tyler Doyle, in his first season at the helm of the Eagles’ soccer side. “Bam, bam, they got that goal at the start of the second half and that was pretty much church. The penalty kick gave us a little bit of life, but in the end it was just too much to overcome. It was too much up hill.

“These seniors have just given four years of their lives to the program to play and to play and to play. To do off season workouts and get better and better and better. We’re establishing a culture where we’re not just one and done in the playoffs anymore.”

GIRLS

Southlake Carroll 2, Odessa Permian 0

Kamdyn Fuller and Ava Olson each scored first-half goals as the Southlake Carroll girls remained unbeaten and untied in a 2-0 win over Odessa Permian in a Class 6A girls Region I quarterfinal.

With the win, Carroll (28-0-0), the defending 6A champions, will move on to face upstart McKinney Boyd (19-5-3) in the regional semifinals at 10 a.m. on Friday at McKinney ISD Stadium.

Maddy Khan got the assist on the Fuller goal with a nice cross allowing Fuller to score on a one-timer in the 13th minute.

Olson’s goal was just over the keeper and just under the crossbar pushing the lead to 2-0. Olivia Geller gets the shutout in goal for the Dragons.

Trophy Club Nelson 1, Keller 0

Sophia Moore scored the game-winning, and only goal of the game in the 63rd minute as Bryon Nelson downed Keller in a Class 6A Region I quarterfinal.

Byron (18-4-3) will be making its first regional tournament appearance since making it three times from 2012-2014 when they face Flower Mound Marcus (22-1-1) at noon on Friday at McKinney ISD Stadium.

The game stayed true to form for the two schools who scored only one goal between them in District 4-6A play. The teams tied 0-0 in the first meeting and BN won the second 1-0.

Keller (20-4-1) was trying to reach the regional tournament for the third consecutive season.

Mansfield 2, Waco Midway 0

Cameron Byrd and Ava Harris each scored second-half goals for Mansfield to take down Waco Midway in a Class 6A Region II quarterfinal.

Mansfield (20-1-1) will next face Cypress Bridgeland (24-1-1) in the regional semifinals at 11 a.m. on Friday at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Austin.

This will be the third consecutive trip to the regional tournament for the Tigers who have lost in the semifinals each time. Mansfield reached the regional final in 2001, but has never had a state tournament appearance.

The four teams at the Class 6A Region II tournament are a combined 91-3-6.

Grapevine 3, Midlothian 2 OT

Theresa McCullough scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner by Emma Johnson in the 85th minute in overtime as Grapevine escaped with a 3-2 win over Midlothian in a Class 5A Region I quarterfinal.

Grapevine (22-3-2) will be making its eighth trip to the regional tournament and seventh in the past eight seasons when they take on Abilene (18-3-2) in the regional semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Midlothian (21-2-3) was seeking its sixth regional tournament appearance since 2005. The Panthers bowed out in the regional semifinals last season.

After McCullough’s first goal in the sixth minute, the game remained 1-0 until Midlothian’s Natalie Wagner tied the game in the 34th minute.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute when Kennedy Husbands scored just inside the right post, but just three minutes later McCullough evened the match off an assist by Caroline Martin.

Wichita Falls Rider 1, Midlothian Heritage 0

Wichita Falls Rider scored a controversial goal in the 76th minute as the Raiders escaped with a 1-0 win over Midlothian Heritage in a Class 4 Region I quarterfinal.

Kendall Toliver’s handspring throw in from the right sideline for Rider (25-3-2) was ruled to have gone just off the fingertip of Heritage goalkeeper Tanner Sorenson and into the net.

Rider (25-3-2) will face either El Paso Del Valle (22-3-1) or El Paso Andress (22-4-0) in the regional semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at home at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. Del Valle and Andress play on Saturday.

It will be the 13th regional tournament appearance for the Raiders, but the first since 2018.

It was a nice run for the Jaguars who are in their first season in Class 5A after reaching three state tournaments, winning two, since 2018 in Class 4A.

Salado 4, Benbrook 0

Reese Lange scored two goals, the first in the first four minutes of the game, as Salado blanked Benbrook 4-0 in a Class 4A Region I quarterfinal.

Salado (26-3-0) will be making its fourth trip to a regional tournament when it meets Wichita Falls (20-1-1) at 10 a.m. on Friday at Northwest ISD Stadium in Justin. The Eagles have never won a state title despite two title game appearances in 2016 and 2021.

Lexi Rice scored in the 7th minute and Cade Harris had a goal in the 30th minute to help Salado build a 3-0 lead at the intermission.

Lange’s second goal put the game away in the 56th minute.

Benbrook (16-6-2) had lost to Salado by the same 4-0 score at a tournament in mid January.

BOYS

FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis 3, Stephenville 2 OT

Diamond Hill-Jarvis spotted Stephenville a 2-0 lead then battled back with two goals by Jovanny Castruita and one by Alex Ibarra to win in overtime in a Class 4A Region I quarterfinal.

Diamond Hill-Jarvis (27-1-1) advances to meet El Paso Irvin (18-8-0) in the regional semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday at Northwest ISD Stadium in Justin.

Stephenville finishes the season at 17-3-2.

District 7-4 will be well represented at the Region I tournament with DH-J joining Fort Worth Western Hills. It will be the Eagles’ second regional tournament trip. DH-J lost in the state title game in 2021.

El Paso Eastlake 3, Euless Trinity 1

El Paso Eastlake took a 2-0 first half lead with goals from Michael Ayala in the 20th minute and Julian Aleman in the 25th minute then kept Trinity at bay in a 3-1 win over the Trojans in a Class 6A Region I quarterfinals.

Eastlake (21-4-1) will now make the nine-hour, 642 mile trip to McKinney ISD Stadium for a regional semifinal match up with Dallas Lake Highlands (12-8-4) at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Trinity (14-9-3) scored in the 69th minute, but Gustavo Muela put the game away for the Falcons with a goal in the 71st.

This was Trinity’s third attempt to make it past the regional quarterfinals, all coming since 2018. Eastlake defeated the Trojans 3-2 in OT in the same round last season.

Midlothian 1, Lake Dallas 0 OT

Ayden Hildreth’s goal in the 91st minute in the second overtime period propelled the Panthers to a 1-0 win over Lake Dallas in a Class 5A Region I quarterfinal.

Midlothian (22-2-2) will next face Lubbock Monterey (21-0-4) in the Region I semifinals at 10 a.m. on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.

Lake Dallas (18-5-3) couldn’t get anything past Leonel Cuellar who earned the shutout for the Panthers in goal.

It will be Midlothian’s seventh trip to the regional tournament, but the first since 2018.