DFW regional tournament scores and schedules CLICK HERE
Marcus girls soccer coach Erin Hebert used the word heartbreak when talking about her 2023 senior class. The seniors started their high school careers in 2020 only for the season to be canceled because of COVID.
The Marauders would lose to rival Flower Mound 3-0 in the 2021 regional final and to Southlake Carroll 2-0 in last year’s regional final.
But Marcus finally pushed through and did what most people thought couldn’t be done.
An own goal in the 41st minute and a stingy defensive effort from the back line and keeper Bry Russell, Marcus upset Carroll 1-0 to win the Class 6A Region 1 championship on Saturday at McKinney ISD Stadium. The win secured Marcus a spot in next week’s UIL state tournament, its first since 2018, in Georgetown.
Marcus improved its record to 24-1-1 while Carroll, the defending state champ, dropped its only game and ends the year at 29-1.
The Dragons had beat McKinney Boyd 3-1 in Friday’s semifinal round while Marcus beat Byron Nelson 1-0 in overtime behind freshman Madi Patterson’s goal in the 94th minute.
The game was evenly matched to start with both teams crossing midfield several times. A free kick from Carroll’s Parker Wilkerson from 40 yards was caught by Russell, a junior. Allie Williams hit a Marcus shot that went over the cross bar in the 10th minute. Kansas bound Caroline Castans attempted a shot from about 10 yards that was deflected by Carroll keeper Olivia Geller.
On the ensuing Marcus corner, Geller made the save to keep it scoreless in the 23rd minute.
With the first half winding down, Marcus applied the pressure that would help the Marauders take some momentum into the intermission. Marcus held possession and across the 50 for what felt like the final three minutes. Castans hit a long cross to Campos and a Carroll defender tried to clear it, but Maddie Hayes was there for the shot.
However, it bounced off Geller and Marcus kept possession. Castans hit another long ball that connected with Campos, who tried to slide an attempt under Geller only for the ball to bounce off the right post in the 38th minute.
Marcus applied the pressure again in the opening minute of the second half when Campos found Patterson, who dribbled inside the box and hit a shot that deflected off Geller. But as the ball bounced behind her and toward the goal, two Carroll defenders both went for it and collided which resulted in an own goal and 1-0 lead for Marcus.
The Dragons then went on the offensive attack, first with a Maddie Khan shot that Russell saved in the 48th minute. Then Carroll had a long possession across the 50 with multiple shots, but Russell and the Marauders stood tough to hold onto the lead with under 30 minutes left in the match.
Carroll’s Kamdyn Fuller got a good look off, but Russell made yet another save in the 52nd minute.
Geller was able to make back to back saves late, but Carroll couldn’t get a good look for the equalizer. It was Carroll’s first loss since Jan. 20, 2022 against Lake Travis (3-0), a run of 50 games (48-0-2). It was also their first shutout loss (Carroll had a 0-0 draw against Keller on Feb. 22, 2022). The last time Carroll suffered a shutout playoff loss came in April 2018 (Allen 3-0 in the regional quarterfinals).
Carroll, which beat Rockwall 4-0 in last season’s state final, were without two of its best players in Kennedy Fuller and Zoe Matthews. Both players are in France with the U-16 women’s youth national soccer team. Fuller and Matthews also didn’t play in the regional quarterfinals against Odessa Permian and regional semis on Friday against McKinney Boyd.
Fuller, a North Carolina commit, has 55 goals and 26 assists this season. She was state champ MVP with a hat trick last season and the Gatorade Texas POTY. Matthews, who was on the state all-tourney team, has 22 goals and 26 assists this season.
