Southlake boys advance to 5A State Championship
Published 4/16/2011 9:54:53 AM by william wilkerson from star-telegram
It doesn't take long to spot Southlake Carroll forward Juan Carlos Flores among his peers on a soccer pitch. Just look for the bright yellow shoes. Or, as the way the Dragons' last two games have played out, just wait for Carroll's goal-scoring celebration and he'll be in the center of it.
Flores headed in a bending pass from Sean Chapman off the glove of Houston Strake Jesuit goalie Jason Taffett at the 24:06 mark, and it stood for a 1-0 victory in a Class 5A state semifinal at Birkelbach Field on Friday afternoon.
Juan Carlos Flores also scored Carroll's goal in a 1-0 double-overtime victory over Plano in last week's Region I final in Midland.
"I don't even know what happened this time," Flores said. "I just saw it go in."
He'll get the chance for a three-peat performance in today's state championship game at 6 pm against Round Rock McNeil. A win would give the Dragons (27-0-3) their first 5A state title, and their first overall title since they won Class 4A in 2000-01.
Dragons captain and forward Mac McGuire wanted to see the Dragons more active up front than they were at the regional tournament, when he said there was too much standing around waiting for the midfielders to bring the ball up.
Flores gave him just what he was hoping for after a bending feed from Chapman, who crossed the ball from 30 yards out to the back post. Flores met the ball midair at the 6-yard box and headed it in off the diving Taffett.
"I was just trying to send it in there and hopefully one of our players would get a head on it," Chapman said. "Juan Carlos just came up with a big goal at that time. It was a great feeling knowing that you contributed to the goal and helped the team pull through for a victory."
It wasn't easy, especially when Strake Jesuit had the wind at its back in the second. The Fighting Crusaders (17-4-7), who lost in last season's state final in a shootout with Dallas Jesuit, kept consistent pressure on the Dragons' back line and, in particular, goalie Oshick Shams. But Shams came through with several clutch saves on a number of corner kicks to preserve Carroll's third consecutive 1-0 victory.
"Our defense is great," Flores said. "If we keep this up we will win state."
Label: Southlake soccer news, Juan Carlos Flores, Sean Chapman, Oshick Shams
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