By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
One year ago, the Porter Cowboys thought they had the team to make it to the UIL state soccer tournament.
But a 1-0 loss to Georgetown East View in the regional tournament semifinals derailed those plans.
It was an experience that has motivated the Cowboys throughout the 2016 season as they’ve intently gone about making sure such a disappointing defeat didn’t happen again.
It hasn’t, and thanks to last Saturday’s 2-1 win in overtime against Pace in the Region IV-5A final, the Cowboys are returning to state a fourth time and hoping to add another state title to the one they captured in 2006 in Class 5A.
Porter also advanced to state in 1984 and 2011, falling short in the state semifinals both times.
“All of us have had this dream since we were freshmen and we’ve been working hard to make it to state,” said Alexis Anzures, a senior center midfielder and four-year starter for the District 32-5A champion Cowboys. “Now that we’re going, it feels really good. We want to make it happen over there (and bring home the championship trophy).”
The four-day state tournament began Wednesday with Class 4A boys and girls semifinals at Georgetown ISD’s Birkelbach Field.
After receiving a spirited sendoff from the Porter students and staff, the Cowboys, wearing caps that read “State,” left for Georgetown by charter bus on Wednesday.
Porter (26-0-1) plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against El Paso Eastlake (22-2-1) in the 5A state semifinals. The Porter-Eastlake winner goes against Frisco Wakeland (24-0-1) or Pflugerville Connally (19-5-2) in the 5A state final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s a blessing having my teammates next to me and to be going to state,” said Uriel Sepulveda, a senior defensive midfielder and team captain. “It’s not just because of one player. We’re a team. Everyone is touching the ball (and passing it around). It’s the confidence we have in everyone on the team.
“We have faith and we’re going for everything,” he added.
Added Omar Estrada, a junior midfielder, “First of all, thank God we made it to state. We remember what happened last year when our season was cut short. We’re all united, and that’s the most important thing.”
Eastlake, the District 2-5A champion, is making its first appearance at state.
“We know that our (semifinal) opponent is a border-town team, so we expect that they’re going to be like us (in their style of play),” said Enrique Soto, a senior midfielder and team captain. “It’s a pretty good team that we’re going to face. They’re going to touch the ball a lot (like we do).”
The Cowboys won five games in the playoffs to get to this point. They triumphed against Edinburg Vela (2-0), Calallen (4-3 in penalty kicks), Sharyland High (2-0), Alamo Heights (4-1) and Pace (2-1 in OT).
“It’s taken us five years to get back to state since we last went in 2011,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “We know how difficult it is to do. This season we’ve done everything possible that we could do to give us the best chance to come back home with that state trophy. From our coaches, our athletes, our managers and everyone else, we’ve tried to make sure that we’ve done everything right, even down to the little details.
“We’re hoping to take advantage of the situation this time,” he added.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess