GEORGETOWN — For 61 minutes and 57 seconds at the UIL Class 4A state soccer championship Friday against Boerne, a dominant San Elizario team had everything except one moment of brilliance.
Then second-half sub Francisco Marquez found it and seized it.
Marquez’s wonder strike from 25 yards out — San Eli’s 11th shot attempt and seventh one on goal — found its way past Boerne’s superb keeper Ben Niedecken and into the bottom left corner of the net.
Given that Boerne’s one shot attempt in 80 minutes wasn’t on goal, that was enough for a 1-0 victory that secured San Elizario’s fourth state championship, the first since the current seniors were eighth graders in 2019.
“I was nervous, I was going to pass the ball,” said Marquez, who has been dealing with ACL issues this year and was deemed the team’s second-half ace-in-the-hole. “Then I decided to shoot. I shot the ball, it went in, a nice feeling.
“That was probably my best (goal), especially in a state final. It feels great. After fighting for four years, it feels great to be a state champion.”
San Elizario became the second Class 4A team in Texas history to give up no goals in the seven-game postseason, following the 2019 Eagles team. This one was well-earned as San Eli put up a 13-1 advantage in shots, an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal and controlled 75% of possession.
They had numerous near-misses and a number of tough shots on goal, but Niedecken kept a clean sheet until 18:02 remained.
Marquez’s goal redeemed everything and earned him the MVP trophy, nine years after his brother Edwin scored four goals in San Eli’s 2015 state championship but wasn’t MVP.
“Soccer is won in a moment,” coach Max Sappenfield said. “You can’t be frustrated. What you can be is grateful you’re opening up the goal. I’m like, ‘Heck yeah, we seem to have it here.’ We have them where we want them. …
“We’re getting shot after shot, we’re making that keeper look as good as he was, and he is a great keeper. I was happy. I told the kids at halftime, ‘Don’t panic. You have the goal open, it’s not going to close, keep trying.
“You’re waiting for that one moment in the soccer game and if you’re present mentally and physically, both, you can take advantage of it.”
San Eli keeper Stephen Chairez later said he wore himself out running across the field to join the goal celebration, but shortly after that he had his best sequences diffusing the only real Boerne chances of the game as the Greyhounds tried for a quick equalizer.
He said Marquez’s goal, a truly outstanding strike regardless of the magnitude of the moment, seemed inevitable.
“Nine shots in the first half and none fell in,” Chairez said. “We went into the locker room knowing one would fall in eventually if we kept trying. We put in the work in the early season, the preseason, during the season. Everything fell in here.
“We finally fulfilled our destiny. All of my friends, since were young we, all we put into it, it was only a matter of time.”
Sappenfield said this group was undeniably special.
“I’m coaching the most talent I’ve coached in my career and that’s saying something when you come in with three state championships,” he said. “This means a lot. The further you go in the playoffs, you start to bond, you fix some of the problems you had earlier in the season.
“When you’re the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the state, the season is long. We’ve been in a hotel room since last Thursday night. That’s a lot of time on the road. These kids are looking forward to sleeping in their own bed.
“We have another nine hours to drive home, but it sure is nice to drive home with a first-place trophy.”
That’s a nine-hour drive with a state championship trophy San Eli has made three times before and they never get old.
“It hasn’t kicked in too hard, I’ll wait until I get on the bus,” Chairez said. “Seven games, zero goals? I really can’t fathom it right now.”
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
