Down to the final three matches of the tournament; we had two exciting semifinals as the first was a derby in New Braunfels and the second between two San Antonio rising powerhouses of girls high school soccer.
6. New Braunfels (14-4-2) v 2. New Braunfels Canyon (15-1-4)
It’s a derby in the hill country. The soccer version of the Wurst Bowl aka “Wurst Cup” as the top two 26-6A teams, both from New Braunfels, faced each other in the first semi-final of our sim tournament. Both teams had met in the regular season with a 1-1 draw and a 3-2 win in favor of Canyon. All this drama set up a wild semi-final match.
New Bruanfels Canyon almost opened up the scoring in the 13th minute with a header off the right post from Kylie Janner. The Unicorns opened up the scoring with a goal in the 28th minute from Lillie Turner from 19 yards out when Canyon Goalkeeper mishit a clearance and landed right at Turner’s feet. Canyon equalized in the 33rd minute on penalty from a foul inside the left side of the box. Blanca Ruiz went right down the middle past the diving Unicorn Goalkeeper Melida Garza. In the 55th minute Unicorns fouled again inside the box and Canyon had another penalty opportunity. Again, Canyon’s Ruiz stepped up to take the penalty and took a powerful low shot to her left but this time the Unicorn’s Garza dove and made the huge save after what look like Canyon would take the lead. Just four minutes later Dana Hanson scored in the 59th minute from 14 yards out find the upper left corner. The goals kept coming, seemed like Canyon just fell apart after the stopped penalty. Remi Whitley scored in the 67th minute, Hanson got her second goal in the 70th minute and Caitlyn Hernandez capped off the win with a goal in the 78th minute. Unicorns upset a Comal Cougar team that only lost once in the regular season and are off to the final.
Final: New Braunfels 5 – New Braunfels Canyon 1
5. SA Brandeis (15-3-3) v 1. SA Madison (20-1-0)
The second semifinal was a showcase of two powerhouse teams in San Antonio. Both Madison and Brandeis were labeled to be favorites coming from San Antonio to be contenders for the UIL girls 6A soccer state final along with Clark and LEE. Neither team met in the regular season and if they had met in the UIL playoffs, it would have been an epic match featuring a lot of soccer talent at once.
The first half was scoreless and Brandeis had possession for most of the first half over 62% of the time but could not get past Madison’s defense, which is one of the best in the state. A team that only gave up 5 goals all season. Brandeis also had a strong defense giving up only 14 goals all season. The first goal didn’t come until the 67th minute when Jillian Martinez scored after making her way into the box and weaving past several Brandeis defenders and past goalkeeper Cardenas. In the 73rd minute Mia Salas scored from the right side about 10 yards on a shot that found the far post. The match would go into overtime. Brandeis would strike first in overtime, with Mia Salas’ second goal of the match. In the second overtime with five minutes left, Madison got the game tying goal from Olivia Wildeman. The match went to Penalties. Madison would convert the first penalty from Martinez and Brandeis would make their first as well. For Madison, they would go on to miss the next three penalty attempts and Brandeis converted the next two. Brandies advanced to the final 3-1 on penalties.
Final: 5. SA Brandeis 2 (3) – SA Madison 2 (1) on PK
THE FINAL
6. New Braunfels v 5. SA Brandeis
It was unexpected final, none of the top four teams made it but we still had two very good teams make it. Neither team met in the the regular season. It was a battle and a close match. Both teams came in upsetting the top 2 teams in the tournament.
The scoring happened early and fast, The Unicorns struck first in the third minute with a goal from defender Kourtney Rosales who came up the left side and found the far post on shot that nutmegged the Brandeis defender. In the sixth minute Mia Salas struck the equalizer on a header that bounced off Unicorns’ keeper Garza off a great save on the prior shot. The second goal for Brandeis came in the 28th minute when New Braunfels defense made a tackle and tried to make a clearance but Natalia Garcia won the ball in the final third and took a shot from the 18 that found the low far right post. New Bruanfels best chance to tie it up came in the 78th minute when a shot hit the right post was rebounded and the Unicorns took a second shot but was saved by Brandies keeper Cardenas. Brandeis was able to hold off New Braunfels and win our sim tournament.
Final: New Barunfels 1 – SA Brandeis 2
FINAL BRACKET RESULTS
Soy San Antonio Fútbol 