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Girls playoff soccer roundup: Frisco Wakeland defeats state No. 1 Highland Park in overtime

Plus, Midlothian Heritage, Celina and Grapevine advance to the state semifinals.

To read more about the Flower Mound-FM Marcus girls regional final, click here.

To read the boys soccer regional finals roundup, click here.

MESQUITE — Thanks to a heads-up play by McKenna Jenkins, Frisco Wakeland picked up a landmark win in the program’s history on Friday, and Highland Park’s quest for perfection in 2021 is over.

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Jenkins took an errant Highland Park pass and found the left corner of the goal with 8:02 remaining in the second overtime period as Wakeland knocked off previously undefeated Highland Park 2-1 in the Class 5A Region II final at Mesquite Memorial Stadium. Jenkins scored both of Wakeland’s goals.

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“This is crazy. I got three goals last game, and I said I needed to get that this game because I wanted it so bad. If it wins the game, I’ll settle for two,” said Jenkins, who is committed to UNLV. “Pretty much this is the biggest game of my life.”

Wakeland (18-2-3) advanced to the state semifinals to face Grapevine, with the time, date and site to be determined. It’s the second time that Wakeland has advanced to the state semifinals in the last three postseasons, and the third time in school history. Highland Park (21-1), the top-ranked team in the Texas Girls Coaches Association’s 5A state poll, was denied its sixth trip to the state semifinals since 2012.

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Wakeland opened the scoring with 8:48 left in the first half as Allie Perry set up Jenkins, who chipped it in from 11 yards. Highland Park evened it up on a 25-yard blast from Vanderbilt signee Quinn Cornog with 6:13 left in the first half.

Highland Park had a 4-1 edge in shots on goal in the first half, which was interrupted by a 105-minute weather delay with 2:45 remaining.

Both teams had good chances to score the go-ahead goal in the second half.

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In the 80th minute, Wakeland’s Kayden Amador had a breakaway chance from 10 yards, but Highland Park goalie Claire Binns came out to bat Amador’s shot away.

Cornog had a chance to put her team ahead in the 42nd minute after being taken down in the 18-yard box, but her ensuing penalty kick hit the crossbar. Kylie Bell also had a good chance in the 52nd minute, getting set up open 10 yards away, but her kick went wide right. Highland Park had a 3-2 edge in shots on goal in the second half.

“We wanted to stay compact and really move with them. We wanted to challenge everything and not have balls get through. We wanted to make them take shots from outside,” Wakeland coach Jimmie Lankford said. “Our center-backs — Sophia Pehr and Ashton Shepperson — were awesome tonight.”

Highland Park’s last chance was in the 99th minute, but Hattie Patterson’s try from 15 yards out sailed high. Wakeland had a 2-0 edge in shots on goal in overtime, both shots in the second period. Drew Stover made six saves for the win.

This is the seventh time Wakeland and Highland Park have met in the playoffs since 2009, with Highland Park holding a 4-3 edge.

The start of the game was delayed one hour because of mechanical problems with Wakeland’s bus en route to the game.

“One of our back tires broke down on the highway. It started smoking,” Jenkins said. “I think what happened with the bus made us keep our focus. We had to keep going. This is part of our story.”

Rick Kretzschmar

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Midlothian Heritage 1, Argyle 0: Rachel Allen has already earned one state championship medal, and now the Midlothian Heritage senior is intent on another.

The right-footed Allen went to her left foot in the game’s ninth minute for the only goal in Heritage’s 1-0 victory over Argyle in the Class 4A Region I title game Friday night at Dragon Stadium in Southlake.

“I’ve told my parents how much fun it would be to win state in my freshman year and again as a senior,” the Dallas Baptist signee said. “Teams play me to shoot with my right, so I work on my left a lot, too.”

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Allen played the majority of the game as a defender but has the OK to move up on offense.

“Rachel can play anywhere on the field,” Heritage coach Gerald Slovacek said. “Whatever the team needs, she does it.”

Heritage (25-1), the 2018 state champion and ranked No. 2 in the Texas Girls Coaches Association 4A state poll, has won 14 in a row and advanced to a state semifinal to face Celina at a time and site to be determined.

Argyle (21-4-2), in a regional final for the first time, suffered its first defeat in 22 matches.

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“Heritage has the best back line we’ve played against,” said Argyle coach Marc Koke. “They have a very strong defense. But our girls had a great season.”

Argyle can take comfort from holding a Heritage team that has scored 134 goals to one.

In the ninth minute, Allen gained possession of a ball 22 yards from goal and lofted a dipping shot with the setting sun at her back. Argyle keeper Anna Potter stretched high but could not reach the ball.

The goal was the 19th of the year by Allen, and the shutout was No. 12 for keeper Jaedyn Barela.

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Argyle’s best chance at an equalizer was provided by a strong run down the right side by Lilly Coleman. Her shot from 10 yards was stopped by Barela.

The sides met previously in a tournament game on Jan. 14, with Heritage winning 2-1.

Randy Jennings

Celina 4, Henderson 1: When Celina coach Steve Nichols addresses his team about this playoff run, he is purposefully candid about expectations.

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In postgame huddles after playoff wins, he often leads with the fact that Celina has been ousted by the eventual state champion each of the last four seasons. He implores his team to realize that this season, it’s Celina with the mantle of being the favorite.

“I was tired of running into the state champions,” Nichols said. “Somebody has to take down the king. I’d like to try it the other way around [this year] and see how being the king feels. I want to see how that works for us.”

Celina took another step toward that Friday at City Bank Stadium, putting away Henderson 4-1 in the 4A Region II final to advance to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. Just six years ago, this program was at its inception.

Taylor Zdrojewski scored two goals, extending her state record for most goals in a season to 114. Ashlyn Vana and Lexi Tuite each chipped in another as Celina outshot Henderson 16-5.

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But for all the talk of Celina (24-1-1) being the “kings,” the highest-scoring team in the region was uncharacteristically challenged.

For the first time in the playoffs, it experienced a deficit. An early goal in the second minute, a line drive from Henderson’s Marissa Aparicio, was the first goal Celina allowed since March 19.

That, coupled with another slow first half, ensured the game would be tied at one at the half.

“I thought we [put pressure] on them after getting that first goal. Zdrojewski is so hard to stop for [the entire] game,” Henderson coach Rich Hammontree said.

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But similar to the script it has followed in the playoffs, a peppering of offense in the second half mostly mitigated any real concern.

In the first minute after the intermission, Vana scored in front of an empty net thanks to an assist from Tuite that brought out Henderson goalie Jordyn Lybrand too far. Ten minutes later, Tuite herself scored on a similar play off an assist from Zdrojewski. From there, Celina coasted to three second-half goals.

The game was called in the 77th minute because of lightning.

“We thought last year’s team could have won it all, but then COVID didn’t allow us to play the games. This year we think so too,” Nichols said. “We are getting to a place we have never been. I didn’t know we get here so fast [in six years]. We dreamed of this.”

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Kevin Reynolds

Grapevine 3, Amarillo 1: Grapevine is now two wins from its first state championship after beating Amarillo in the 5A Region I final. Sam Larsen, Naomi Jeter and Olivia Nevin scored the goals for Grapevine (24-1-3).

This will be the fourth trip to the state semifinals for Grapevine, which was the 5A state runner-up in 2016 and 2018 and a state semifinalist in 2015.

The Woodlands 1, Mansfield Lake Ridge 0: A first-half goal by Marley Krach was all of the scoring and gave The Woodlands the victory in the Class 6A Region II final.

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The Woodlands is ranked No. 1 in the state and will face No. 3 Flower Mound in the state semifinals. Seventh-ranked Lake Ridge finished 17-5-2.

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