Historical Season of STE Soccer Sweeps

During the last week of February, both the Saint Thomas’ Episcopal Men’s and Women’s Varsity Soccer teams made school history. After numerous late night practices, hours upon hours of play making and countless district victories, it all came down to a single game in Waco. 

Coming into Waco, the men’s team had won a total 20 games and only lost two. With over a hundred goals scored and less than ten goals scored on them, the odds were highly stacked in their favor. Their game was scheduled against Dallas Covenant for 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22. 

Coming into Waco, the women’s team had won 10 games and lost none. They had scored a total of 60 goals and had only six goals scored on them. Their game was scheduled against Austin Veritas for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23. 

The week leading up to their State games was physically draining on both teams, as the athletes are also hard-working students and are involved in many other school activities. A typical schedule involved waking up early, attending classes, spending lunches at club meetings, participating in the pipe band or orchestra practice immediately following school, watching past film from games, and finally going to late evening practices and workouts. 

Joel Hrncir vies with a Dallas Covenant defender to get back control of the ball.

Semi-final games were hosted earlier in the week; the men played in College Station, and the women playing in San Antonio. Each team returned back into Houston late into the night. A spontaneous pep rally was held in the gym before the teams were sent on the road to the State Finals.

The men’s game started off with a goal made by Dallas Covenant in the first ten minutes.

“When they scored, we all were like ‘Oh boy this is gonna be a hard game.’ We started to play scared, and they had the momentum. We had to stay positive, though, or we knew that we would lose,” Jack Riley Campbell '20 explained. 

That’s exactly what they did. Ten minutes before the half was over, Jack scored a goal from a rebound off of his penalty kick. The game was now tied 1-1. During the second half, the teams were fighting back and forth for possession, until Joel Hrncir '20 got an opening and scored with an assist from Wilberth Araujo ‘20. 

“Wilberth just gave me a perfect pass, and all I had to do was finish. The whole game was just an amazing team effort; no one quit and we came from behind to win 2-1,” Joel said. 

The Saint Thomas Episcopal Women’s Varsity team poses after their win with the State Champions Plaque. 

The next day, the women’s team also achieved success. In the first 48 seconds of the first half, Kat Lazor '20 made a goal. The team went wild. This amazing shot drove the momentum for the rest of the game. The new burst of team energy slowed down Austin Veritas’ momentum. 

“Their goalie came all the way to the side of the field to get the ball, and then basically passed to our team. I got it, and then shot from out because the goalie was just walking back,” Kat said. 

The rest of the game was, in short, our women’s team dominating the field. The game ended 6-0, with four being scored by Kat. This day marked a first in school history with the women’s soccer team winning their first State Championship. 

With two state soccer championships in as many days, the amazing work the teams invested ended up in a truly historic season for the Saint Thomas’ Episcopal School Saints.