Late Goal Gives Bel Air 1st Soccer State Title; El Paso County 2nd Crown Of Weekend
El Paso County programs may have lost an hour when they traveled from the Mountain Time Zone to Central Time Zone for this weekend's UIL state soccer final four, but it didn't affect them one bit. Like San Elizario's win in the UIL 4A boys final on Friday, El Paso Bel Air (28-1-0) did the same in Saturday's UIL 5A boys final. The Highlanders scored in both halves against Frisco Wakeland (21-3-5) to prevail 2-1 at Georgetown ISD's Birkelbach Field.
"It's putting us on the map in Texas," said VYPE Player of the Game Ivar Arroyo. "We usually don't arrive to the finals for anything in the El Paso area, but finally two teams won. I hope in the future we can win again."
Most of the action occurred in the first half. El Paso Bel Air got on the board with Omar Zamora's goal at 11:02, and Frisco Wakeland answered with an Alex Wing goal at 17:44. The second half was also a battle, but between the defenses instead.
The next goal was the game-winner, which was scored by Arroyo. It arrived at the 62:50 mark of the match.
"I think we adjusted to what they were doing," Bel Air coach Sergio Delgado said of bouncing back in the second half. "We had more shots, and, in the end, that should pay off for any team that wants to win."
While Bel Air won a state championship in its first ever trip to UIL state, Wakeland fell short of a three-peat and a fourth-ever title in its sixth state appearance since 2010.
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