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Game info for area girls teams can be found here.
The Prosper girls soccer team has been without one of the premier players in the Dallas area all season. It remains to be seen if junior midfielder Jordyn Herrera will be able to play at any point in the playoffs as she gets closer to completing her recovery from a torn ACL.
But Prosper is undefeated and enters Friday’s first-round playoff game against Coppell as the No. 1-ranked team in the state in Class 6A. Two team managers from last year’s squad have played a big role in that success.
Four-star senior forward Kaitlyn Giametta and four-star senior goalkeeper Jordyn Gunnarson were playing in the U.S. Soccer Girls Development Academy last season, so they weren’t allowed to play for Prosper because of DA rules, but they served as team managers so they could still be involved in the high school program.
After the nation’s DA program shut down in April 2020, both were eager to play for Prosper, and Giametta has 35 goals and 16 assists for a 21-0 team that has outscored the opposition 122-6. Prosper has used four goalies, but Gunnarson is the starter and team’s No. 1 option at that position, and the Texas A&M signee has 13 shutouts.
“They trained with us, so they knew the program, they were familiar with the girls. It made it pretty seamless,” Prosper coach Taylor Baca said.
Giametta, a Texas Tech signee who is playing high school soccer for the first time since she was a freshman, is tied for the team lead in goals with junior forward Hadley Murrell. Murrell, committed to Oklahoma, scored 26 goals last season before being sidelined by a torn MCL, but she has been even better in 2021 and has 35 goals and a team-high 17 assists.
“Both of those kids are competitive. They care more than anything about their team being successful,” Baca said. “But they are both forwards that like to score. Having somebody else to not only work off of, but to compete with, brings out the best in both of them.”
Herrera had 11 goals and 12 assists when she tore her ACL in district play last season, and Baca said it might be a couple of more weeks before Herrera is cleared to play in a game. That would require a long playoff run to get her back in the lineup.
Prosper certainly has the talent to make that happen, even though it has never won a state title in girls soccer. Its star-studded lineup includes Florida pledge Molly McDougal at center back, Oklahoma pledge Cassie Clifton at central midfield and Tulsa signee Haley Nichols (five goals, 13 assists) in the midfield.
Three storylines to know
Coppell coaching change
Coppell has been led by interim head coach Rebecca Sawers since Ryan Dunlevy stepped down from his coaching duties in early January due to personal reasons.
Coppell (15-4-4) is the No. 4 seed from District 6-6A, but the area’s sixth-ranked 6A team has beaten area No. 4-ranked Flower Mound Marcus and tied No. 5 Hebron and No. 2 Flower Mound. Coppell opens the playoffs Friday against undefeated Prosper, ranked No. 1 in the state in 6A.
Is this the year for Byron Nelson, Grapevine?
Trophy Club Byron Nelson and Grapevine have each made three state tournament appearances in the last decade, but both are still trying to win their first state championship. Both have another good shot this year.
Byron Nelson (13-1-2), No. 16 in the state in 6A, has allowed only 10 goals, had four player sign to play college soccer in November, and seniors Ava Crimmings and Cassidy Bell have combined for 18 goals and 20 assists. Sophomore forward Theresa McCullough has 20 goals and 21 assists for a 19-1-1 Grapevine team that is ranked No. 16 in the state in 5A, and senior forward Kyleigh Rhodes has 17 goals and 11 assists.
Teams missing star players
Carrollton Ranchview’s Alexis Neal led the Dallas area with 52 goals as a sophomore last year, Rowlett’s Raigen Powell was SportsDay’s All-Area offensive player of the year after scoring 38 goals as a junior, and Leah Diaz of Richardson Pearce was named the area’s newcomer of the year after scoring 30 goals as a freshman. All three of those teams made the playoffs this year, even though Powell graduated early and is already at Alabama, Diaz stopped playing for her school before district play started, and Neal has played a limited amount of time with Ranchview because of ECNL soccer and other obligations.
Kristin Edmondson leads Pearce with 17 goals, while junior forward Lexus Mosley scored eight goals for Ranchview in district play. Ranchview coach Richie Sanchez said Neal is on the roster and may be available to play this week.
Other teams to watch
Flower Mound (17-1-2): Five years after winning its only state championship, Flower Mound enters the playoffs as the No. 8 team in the state in Class 6A. Flower Mound hasn’t won a playoff game since claiming the 6A title in 2016, missing the playoffs in 2017 and 2018, losing in the first round in 2019 and then having last year’s team that was ranked No. 4 in the nation denied a chance to compete in the playoffs because the season was shut down early due to the pandemic. Four-star Texas A&M pledge Sydney Becerra has 10 goals and 10 assists despite playing only 12 matches because of an early season injury. Kansas State signee Riley Baker leads the team with 19 goals and has seven assists, and Arkansas signee Peyton Whipple has 12 shutouts.
Flower Mound Marcus (16-3-5): Looking to win its first state title since 2005, Marcus is ranked No. 4 in the Dallas area and owns wins over No. 5 Hebron and No. 6 Coppell and has tied No. 2 Flower Mound and No. 3 Trophy Club Byron Nelson. Maddie Reynolds, Paige Dickson and Bella Campos have combined to score 37 goals, with Reynolds leading the team with 15 goals and 14 assists. Bry Russell has posted 11 shutouts. Marcus made the last of its six state tournament appearances in 2018, losing in the 6A championship game.
Highland Park (17-0): They have outscored the opposition 113-5 and is ranked No. 1 in the state in 5A. Highland Park has won seven state titles and made 13 appearances at the state tournament — both UIL records — and it won three state titles and had three state runner-up finishes from 2012 to 2019. Georgetown signee Maja Davison Lardner, who had a goal in Highland Park’s win over Mansfield Legacy in the 2019 5A state title game, has 17 goals and 11 assists this season. Four-star Vanderbilt signee Quinn Cornog has 27 goals and 19 assists, four-star Texas signee Emily Jane “EmJ” Cox has 22 goals and nine assists, and sophomore Claire Binns has 14 shutouts.
Midlothian Heritage (20-1): Midlothian Heritage won the 4A state championship in 2018 in its third season of varsity soccer. Rachel Allen was a freshman when she scored the winning goal in overtime in a 2-1 win over Jasper in that state title game, and the Dallas Baptist signee has 17 goals and 13 assists as a senior this year. Midlothian Heritage, ranked No. 6 in the state in 4A, has gotten a team-high 18 goals from Logan Berumen and has outscored its opponents 107-10. Brynn Pollock, Kerry Scott and Sydney Dickson have combined for 34 goals and 40 assists, and Jaedyn Barela and Tanner Sorenson have combined for 15 shutouts.
Wylie East (20-1-1): Wylie East made back-to-back state tournament appearances in 2014 and 2015, winning its only state title in 2015, but it hasn’t been back to state since. That could change this year, with Wylie East ranked No. 11 in the state in 5A. Senior midfielder Jayme Bailey, a Stephen F. Austin signee, has 28 goals and 12 assists in 2021 after recording 28 goals and 14 assists as a junior. Forward Ramani Neal has added 26 goals and 12 assists, forward Ashley Moore has scored 12 goals, and goalkeeper Breanna Wooten has 19 shutouts and has allowed only five goals.
Other players to watch
Ava Colberg, Frisco Memorial: The three-star Baylor signee has 16 goals — nearly half of her team’s season total of 33. Memorial (13-2-3), which shared the District 9-5A title with Frisco Wakeland, has allowed only seven goals. Frisco ISD produced four soccer state champions (Wakeland boys twice and Wakeland girls and Centennial girls once each) from 2016 to 2018, and Memorial is looking to be the next FISD team to make a long playoff run.
Tyler Isgrig, Arlington Martin: The four-star junior striker, who is committed to TCU, has 23 goals and 15 assists for District 8-6A champion Martin (16-2-4), ranked No. 22 in the state in 6A. Martin has made seven appearances in the state tournament, tied for sixth-most in UIL history, and is looking for its first state title since 1998.
Allie Love, Colleyville Heritage: The three-star freshman forward has a team-high 24 goals for a team that is No. 8 in SportsDay’s 5A-others area rankings. Love finished seventh in 5A at the state cross country meet, running five kilometers (3.1 miles) in 17:52.25. Senior midfielder Karalie Morrison has provided plenty of offensive support for Love, with 20 goals and 15 assists.
Ashleigh Williams, Allen: The Texas Tech signee has a team-high 25 goals for Allen (16-3-2), which is tied for No. 25 in the 6A state rankings. Allen was the District 5-6A runner-up behind 6A state No. 1-ranked Prosper. Allen was a 6A state semifinalist in 2019, its first appearance at state since 1998.
Taylor Zdrojewski, Celina: The four-star junior forward has a school-record 87 goals. She has an eight-goal game, a seven-goal game and four games with six goals for a Celina (19-1-1) team that is ranked No. 19 in the state in 4A. The state record for most goals in a season is 109 by Esmeralda Gonzales of Fort Worth South Hills in 2016, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations record book.
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