PROSPER – Twelve minutes remain in the half. A match between the Coppell boys soccer team and the Plano West boys soccer team have traded chance after chance. 

Another chance for Plano West came off a corner kick as the ball deflected off a Coppell player for an own goal, leading to the only score of the match with 11:03 remaining. 

On Tuesday at Children’s Health Stadium, the Cowboys fell to the Wolves 1-0 in the Class 6A Division I Region I finals. The Wolves advance to play Klein Cain in the state semifinals. 

“Coming into the match we had scouted the Coppell goalkeeper and we noticed that he doesn’t come out for a lot of the corners,” Plano West coach Clint Cobb said. “When I saw the keeper sit back I knew we had a chance to score, and the ball all of a sudden went in the back of the net.”

Emotions were running high as the Cowboys’ season officially ended. 

With strong winds, the strategies changed for both teams accordingly. 

“In the first half we were playing in the wind and we knew that we had to adjust because whenever the Coppell side would save it, the ball would be booted to the 30-yard line,” Cobb said. “In the second half we had a lot more confidence playing with the wind.”

Being the final high school match for Coppell seniors, emotion was running high. 

“It just didn’t happen,” Coppell senior forward Luis Mendez Gil said. “There were a lot of factors, however, it just didn’t work.” 

Plano West fans came out, notably its students.

“There was a huge student section,” Mendez Gil said. “It created a lot of buzz and noise on the field.”

With the season coming to a close, three wins from a state championship, Morris knows this hurts, but it is also a chance to motivate the underclassmen for another run next year. 

“This moment has to hurt a little,” Morris said. “We have a lot of juniors ready to step up next year, however, we need to let this settle and let the boys think about what they want next year.” 

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