ROY HESS | Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — Thanks to a 5-0 win in Saturday’s Region IV-6A Tournament soccer final, the San Antonio Lee Volunteers are going to the coming week’s UIL State Tournament for the first time since 1997.
The District 27-6A champion Volunteers (24-2-1) built a 4-0 first-half advantage and held off the San Antonio Reagan Rattlers the rest of the way at Brownsville Sports Park to earn their trip to Georgetown.
Reagan, the Region IV-6A champion one year ago and a state qualifier, ended the season with a 17-9-2 record as the No. 3 playoff seed from 27-6A.
During district this season, Lee defeated Reagan 3-1 and 2-0. Lee went into the regional final as a clear favorite, and the decisiveness of Saturday’s outcome was perhaps the only surprise.
“It’s been a while since Lee went to state, so it’s exciting for these players and our school,” Volunteers coach David Rogers said. “As a coach, it’ll be my fifth appearance at state, but for the school, it’ll be only the second time to make it to state.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to go to state while coaching at Granbury, Boerne (High), Boerne Champion and Denton Ryan, and now at Lee,” Rogers added. “It’s always nice to go to state.
“I think it means everything to our community and our school to take that next step and go to the next level, so we’re excited.”
The Volunteers put the match away during the first half as Antonio Loyola, Wilmar Aguilar, Francisco Segura and Henry Bowland scored goals during the 12th, 23rd, 25th and 26th minutes, respectively.
Teammate Julian Sanchez added Lee’s last tally during the final minute of the match for the only score of the second half.
The regional tournament now has been played at BSP five times (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019). Saturday marked the first time a boys team from outside of the Rio Grande Valley has won the regional tournament and qualified for state at BSP.
The Region IV-6A Tournament will return to BSP next season.
In Friday’s semifinals, Lee defeated Laredo Alexander 4-2 and Reagan prevailed against Brownsville Hanna 3-2.
Rogers said his team is leaving South Texas having had a pleasant experience made even better by winning the regional tournament.
“Brownsville hosted a great tournament and has treated our boys well,” the Lee coach said. “We’re just fortunate to be down here and playing some great soccer.”