Each of the last two years, Dallas-area soccer teams have won four of the six UIL state titles, sweeping the three girls championships and winning the 5A boys title in 2022 and 2023.
D-FW has a chance to do one better than that next week at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown.
Nine of the 24 teams playing at state are from the Dallas area, and D-FW is represented in all three girls classifications and in 6A and 5A on the boys side. The Celina girls (24-1-2) are the only team back at state from last year’s eight D-FW state qualifiers, and the back-to-back 4A state champions will face Lumberton (22-4) at 11 a.m. Wednesday in a state semifinal.
Celina is trying to join Plano West as the only girls teams in UIL history to win three consecutive state titles, with Plano West accomplishing that in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Celina beat Frisco Panther Creek 1-0 in Saturday’s 4A Region II final thanks to a penalty kick goal by Grace Pritchard, and Celina has outscored the opposition 140-8 going into its fourth straight state tournament appearance.
The UIL announced the state semifinal matchups Saturday night, and in the 6A girls bracket Rockwall (21-3-2) will play Austin Westlake (16-4-2) in the first semifinal at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Prosper (24-2-2) will play Katy Seven Lakes (19-3-5) at noon. Prosper is the only one of those four making its state tournament debut, but all four will be trying to win their first state title.
It has been a postseason full of upsets, and Prosper is the highest-ranked team remaining in 6A, as it was No. 6 in the latest state rankings. District 26-6A No. 3 seed Westlake was No. 9, Rockwall was tied for 10th and Seven Lakes wasn’t ranked.
In 5A girls, Colleyville Heritage (23-0-2) and Frisco Wakeland (24-0-2) have a chance to become the 13th girls team in UIL history to win state with an undefeated record. Colleyville Heritage, at state for the first time since 2011, will play Pflugerville Hendrickson (21-3-2) at 9:30 a.m. Thursday while three-time state champion Wakeland will be making its fifth state tournament appearance when it faces Leander Rouse (20-4-3) at noon.
Rouse is at state for the first time since 2017 but is coming off back-to-back 3-0 wins over state No. 1-ranked McAllen Memorial and No. 7 Leander.
In Friday’s 6A boys semifinals, Duncanville (20-2-3) will make its first state tournament appearance since 1986 when it faces defending state champion Katy Seven Lakes (23-1-2) at 5 p.m. Flower Mound (22-2-2), at state for the first time since winning the 6A title in 2019, will follow with a 7:30 p.m. semifinal against first-time state tournament qualifier Austin Vandegrift (22-2-2).
Thursday’s 5A boys semifinals will have five-time state champion Frisco Wakeland (18-5-3) playing state tournament newcomer Leander Glenn (29-0-1) at 5 p.m. and first-time state tournament qualifiers Midlothian (23-2-3) and Baytown Goose Creek Memorial (21-3-2) facing off at 7:30. Wakeland, at state for the ninth time, is 7-1 in state semifinals all-time and has won six in a row.
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