Roy Hess, Staff Reporter
GEORGETOWN — To be playing on the last day of the UIL soccer season in a state final is exactly what the Porter Cowboys wanted.
And now, having reached that goal, winning another state championship would make things even better.
The Cowboys (27-0-1) face off against the Frisco Wakeland Wolverines (25-0-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Class 5A final at Georgetown ISD’s Birkelbach Field.
It’s a very satisfying time for the Cowboys, who have won six games in the 5A playoffs to get to this point.
“I’m proud of my teammates, that’s the first thing,” said Enrique Soto, a senior midfielder who put in Porter’s final tally during a second-half, four-goal scoring outburst that led to a 4-1 state semifinal victory Thursday against El Paso Eastlake.
“Winning like that just gives us a lot of motivation because everybody on the team has been dreaming about this since we were freshmen,” Soto added. “We know the team we face in the final will be really hard to beat, but if we believe and have faith, anything is possible.”
The Cowboys were led in the state semifinal by Alexis Anzures, also a senior midfielder, who scored Porter’s first and third goals against Eastlake. His tally from the left side about 15 yards out with eight minutes gone in the second half made it 1-0 and got things going.
“It’s a dream come true because I’m helping my team win at state,” Anzures said. “It’s just incredible. All our hard work is paying off.
“Now we’re going to focus on our last game, the final chapter (to our season),” he added.
Porter is making its fourth appearance at the UIL state tournament. The Cowboys captured the 5A championship in 2006 and also went to state in 1984 and 2011, losing in the semifinals both times.
Lakeland has reached the state tournament for the third time. The Wolverines previously advanced in 2010 and won the Class 4A title before losing in the 4A semifinals in 2014.
Lakeland surged to a 3-0 first-half advantage en route to defeating Pflugerville Connally 4-0 in Thursday’s other 5A semifinal.
“We saw Wakeland play and they have a great team,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “They’re very organized and physical. Once again, we’re going to have to implement our style of play by passing the ball and maintaining possession so we can try to take advantage of them.
“We need one more game to reach our goal,” Espitia added. “We definitely thought last year we had a team that could make it over here to state (but we lost in the regional tournament). After that happened last year, we just promised each other that we were going to come back strong this season and we have.”