By Terry Carter
The preliminaries are complete. Now for the main show.
Seven Lakes has captured its second consecutive Region III-6A boys’ soccer crown and advanced to the state championships.
Since day one, the Spartans (26-1-1) have exuded confidence, multiple scoring threats, creativity on the pitch — and an unending hunger to get the job done in Georgetown this weekend.
In 2022, Seven Lakes advanced to state with similar talent and dropped their state semifinal to Plano, 3-2. Since the Spartans have been aimed, driven and determined each day to “get the job done” at state.
On Friday the Spartans will face Sachse (16-6, 8-3 in District 9-6A), a second-place district finisher behind Naaman Forest.
The 5 p.m. boys’ 6A state semifinal will determine what team reaches the 6A boys’ state championship battle slated for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Allen (20-2-5) and Dripping Springs (14-11-2) meet in the second semifinal.
Battling through Region II-6A, the Sachse Mustangs relied on a strong defense to defeat Royse City 4-0, Mansfield 1-0 and Duncanville 1-0 to reach Houston-area teams in their regional tournament.
Edging Cy Woods 1-0 set up a Region II showdown with The Woodlands for a state berth. And the Mustangs are talented, as all state qualifiers must be. Seven Lakes has neutralized nearly every opponent this season with their above-average, midfield play. This time the Spartans may need the back row and goalkeeper to become the spotlight standouts.
Of course that is essential if the midfield masters Hunter Merritt, Noa Stasic, Kortay Koc, Daniel Ejerenwa and Aidan Morrison can be contained. Their creativity, passing, power and ingenuity, as a group, will be quite well suited for the state tournament.
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- Spartan midfielder Daniel Ejerenwa (11) will be one of many scoring threats for Seven Lakes when they play in the 6A boys state semifinals in Georgetown today against Sachse. The winner plays for the state championship on Saturday. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
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- Seven Lakes will bring a vocal group of supporters to their pursuit of the 6A championship this weekend. At 26-1-1, the Spartans enter the tournament with the best record and an ideal motivation to win. (Photo by Terry Carter/UDPhotos)
