By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
GEORGETOWN — The Porter Cowboys dug deep to summon their collective willpower and went the distance in capturing a second UIL state championship in soccer Saturday at Georgetown ISD’s Birkelbach Field.
It became the sixth UIL state soccer title for the Rio Grande Valley since 2004, including four of them by Brownsville teams. Rivera was the inaugural Class 6A champion one year ago with a 28-0 record, so Brownsville now boasts back-to-back state champions.
In Saturday’s match between two unbeaten teams that featured all sorts of twists and turns in momentum, the Cowboys finally prevailed 10-9 in penalty kicks to secure a 3-2 victory against Frisco Wakeland in the Class 5A state final.
“What can I say? We’re blessed,” said Porter’s Uriel Sepulveda, a senior defensive midfielder and team captain. “Having these teammates and having this faith in each other, it was like bringing all the power into one house. All along we never stopped believing that we would win.
“Yes, it was a dramatic win, and all I can say is God is good,” he added. “This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. It will stay in my heart forever.”
Each time Porter (28-0-1) scored to go ahead at 1-0 and then 2-1, the taller and quicker Wolverines (25-1-1) kept finding a way to knot things up again.
Even with just 1:09 left in regulation, the Wolverines rallied when Harris Partain fired a rocket of a shot that hit the left post and ricocheted into the right corner of the goal to make it 2-2 and give his team new life.
After a scoring deadlock that lasted through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime action, the match, tied at 2, went to penalties. And even then, the match appeared that it was going to never end.
“Even when we went to penalty kicks, the players were saying, ‘Don’t worry coach, we’re going to win this,’” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “They had the faith and they did it to win state.”
Going first, each Porter player converted his attempt through 10 agonizing rounds of PKs that involved a total of 20 players, 10 for each side.
However, the agony evenutally belonged exclusively to Wakeland as its first nine players to attempt a PK found the mark before Nick Mueller, the 10th one of the Wolverines to try a penalty, saw his kick sail high and wide left.
The miss gave the win to Porter and set off an emotional victory celebration on the Cowboys’ sideline and in the visitors’ stands.
Alexis Armendariz, a junior forward, scored both of Porter’s goals during regulation. Armendariz broke away from a defender just as the Wakeland goalkeeper came out too late and the Porter forward reached the loose ball first to send a routine shot into an open net during the 17th minute for a 1-0 lead that stood through intermission.
A header by Partain off a corner kick taken by Logan Biggs from the right side during the 46th minute evened things at 1.
Again, Porter seemed to be in good shape when Armendariz tallied his second goal durinng the 72nd minute. The Wakeland goalkeeper tried to clear the ball, but in doing so, it went directly to Armendariz, who promptly fired it into the net for a 2-1 advantage for the Cowboys.
“It’s a great prize for us to win state,” said Armendariz, named MVP of the 5A boys championship game. “It’s a dream that became reality for us.”
Just when it seemed the Cowboys were almost home free to a second state title to go along with the one they won in 2006, Partain came up with his remarkable goal with 1:09 left in regulation that went off the left post and in, setting up the eventual PKs.
Wakeland lost one of its key players, senior midfielder Noa Cuellar, to a leg injury only six minutes into the match. After going to the locker room for treatment, he came back out and watched the remainder of the game from the sideline on crutches.
After it was all over, there was no denying it was Porter’s day.
“It’s all about faith,” said Porter’s Enrique Soto, a senior midfielder and team captain. “We never lost the faith.”