With a 3-2 victory against Colleyville Heritage High School on Saturday, April 13, the Wakeland girls soccer team won a second state championship in the last three years and now have four state titles in the history of the program. In the win, sophomore forward Audrey Gilbert led the way with two goals and was named the Girls Conference 5A UIL State Soccer Championship Match MVP. Senior midfielder Ana Carrera also contributed a goal, clinching the win.
“This was our last game with this group, and the seniors are so special,” freshman forward and outside back Dilan Pistorius said. “Just being able to win with this group one last time was a great experience.”
During the game, Wakeland had several scoring opportunities in the first half and dominated possession but were unable to put a shot into the back of the net. In the beginning of the second half, Gilbert gave Wakeland the lead off a header after a beautiful corner from sophomore defender Sophie Altieri.
“It felt good since it was still 0-0, so I had to score,” Gilbert said.
Looking to extend the lead, with 17 minutes left, sophomore midfielder Finley McKnight had a great feed to Gilbert who then struck the ball into the top corner. Scoring the last goal for Wakeland, Carrera had an excellent finish into the back of the net with 12 minutes left. With a large lead, Wakeland was feeling confident going into the final minutes of the game. However, Colleyville Heritage put a shot into the top corner of the goal with three minutes remaining and scored a second time in the last minute. Wakeland then played great defense and closed out the win.
“Towards the end, I feel like the game got really tough, so we really had to keep going,” sophomore forward Kennedy Clark said. “Hard work is the main reason.”
Even though this game resulted in another state title, it was just one more victory in an undefeated season.
“This group, we were all really close, and we had trust in one another to be able to believe in each other to win,” Gilbert said.
With many talented underclassmen on the team, the girls are well prepared to compete for more championships in the next few years.
“[Playoff experience] is great…[and now I have] three more championship medals to get,” Pistorius said.
