All Saints freshman Allie Werner (14) splits two defenders in a game played earlier this season. Werner was chosen Newcomer of the Year on the 2013 All-ET Girls Soccer Team. (Courtesy Photo)

What is the best way to describe Mabank senior forward Savannah Henderson? Whitehouse’s Brittany Matthews sums it up in four words.

“We couldn’t stop her,” Matthews said.

Matthews and the LadyCats shouldn’t feel bad because no one could prevent Henderson from putting the ball in the back of the net this season.

Mabank’s own version of Lionel Messi, the prolific-scoring Argentinean who stars for Barcelona, scored an astonishing 75 goals in leading the Lady Panthers to the 4A regional semifinals.

She was the unanimous choice for Player of the Year on the Tyler Morning Telegraph’s 2013 All-East Texas Girls Soccer Team. She follows Pine Tree’s Amanda Wallin, who received this honor last year.

Henderson averaged nearly three goals per game as Mabank went 23-3-3. Only once was Henderson held scoreless, with John Tyler the team responsible.

“Savannah is a rare talent,” Mabank coach Matt Lemoine said. “She’s one of those players that we coaches like to say you will get once in your career. It just so happened it was in my first year (at Mabank). She just has an unbelievable God-given ability to play the game and the bigger the occasion, the more she stepped up.”

Henderson received All-East Texas first team honors last season, but began 2013 on a tear, scoring six goals in Mabank’s first three matches against Henderson, North Forney and Kaufman.

That was a sign of things to come as Henderson racked up an unheard of 35 goals before District 31-4A play even began.

“I have a great team and they support me and provide me with great service to put the ball in the back of the net, and as a striker that’s your job,” said Henderson, who signed a letter of intent to Texas A&M-Commerce. “I like to perform every job I do well and (the goals) just kind of happened.”

The senior admits she is a perfectionist and will stay hours after practices and games working on her shot or ball handling.

A Feb. 15 loss to John Tyler prompted several such evenings of extra practice.

“They would turn the stadium lights out on me and tell me to go home and I would crawl back under the fence and keep kicking.” Henderson said. “That loss to John Tyler (was our second district game) and as a senior I felt like I let down my team.

“You always have one moment in the season that defines how it is going to go. After that (loss) I decided that this was not how it was going to go, so I did whatever it took to try and win.”

The rest of the 31-4A was witness to that determination as Henderson scored 26 goals in Mabank’s remaining eight league games — two of those in a 2-0 home victory over the Lady Lions. She finished as MVP of the district.

The playoffs began and Henderson did not let up, scoring three times in a bi-district win over Henderson, twice in an area victory over Mount Pleasant, twice in a 2-0 overtime win over Texas High in sectionals and twice in a 2-1 regional quarterfinal win over Red Oak.

Henderson scored a goal against Wylie, but it wasn’t enough in an eventual 4-1 regional semifinal loss.

“Team after team we weren’t supposed to win, but the underdogs came out on top every single time,” Henderson said. “About three rounds in, everyone was kind of like ‘how is (Mabank) still in it’ and we met Wylie and they were really good.”

Henderson does not play club soccer, instead splitting her time in the fall and winter as a trainer for Mabank’s football and basketball teams.

“It’s weird for me (to get this honor) because when I was younger I used to look up to those girls and I’ve never really seen myself on their level,” Henderson said.

Henderson, like Messi, has the respect of her peers and another award to cap an unforgettable season.

 

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Brook Hill’s Collins picked as top coach

By Travis Yoesting

Three years ago there was nothing.

The Bullard Brook Hill girls soccer program was in its infancy under coach David Collins, who is also the boys soccer coach.

Now, the Lady Guard are state champions.

For molding a title-winning squad in three years, for overcoming injuries throughout the season, for deploying tactics in the state final to beat a squad that Brook Hill had already lost to twice, Collins is the Tyler Morning Telegraph and ETFinalScore.com’s All-East Texas Girls Soccer Coach of the Year, following Pine Tree’s Daniel Rich.

“Three years ago (the program) didn’t exist,” Collins said Wednesday. “We were starting from scratch three years ago.

“I thought we would have the ability to (have early success), but we were young. We needed them to develop and really come on and they did that. It’s a tribute to them and the job they did for coming together as a team.”

The Lady Guard played their first season in TAPPS a year ago and defied expectations by reaching the state tournament despite finishing fourth in their own district.

This season Brook Hill finished second in district while playing through the absence of key players. The team’s two losses were to Colleyville Covenant Christian, which was its foe in the TAPPS Division III title game.

In the final, with the team finally healthy, Collins was pleasantly surprised to see Covenant come out in a 4-3-3, which played into his tactics as the Lady Guard came out in their usual 4-4-2.

“Our goal was to dominate the midfield, put high pressure defensively and attack down the outside and force their outside mids to play 100 yards box to box and defend us,” he said.

It worked, brilliantly. After losing 2-0 and 3-0 to the Lady Cougars in district, the Lady Guard won 3-0 with everything on the line.

“I think the key was making sure that they believed that they could win — and they did,” Collins said. “We came out with our game plan and they went out and executed it and it was tremendous.”

The championship was Collins’ first as a head coach, though he had won three as an assistant (Brook Hill football in 2011, East Texas Baptist men’s soccer in 1998 and 1999). Collins said this team was like having 17 daughters.

“I have a group of girls that are unselfish — they don’t care who scores, they don’t care who gets accolades, they’re all in it for each other and they came together and that’s the reason why we won,” he said. “When you have a group of kids playing for each other and not playing for themselves, you can accomplish great things.”

The winning may not stop any time soon, as Collins began thinking about a repeat on the drive home from the state tournament in Houston.

“It kind of hit me that we had one senior,” Collins said. “We’re already mentally geared in that direction, to not be satisfied and try to go back and do it all again next year.”

 

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All Saints freshman Werner tabbed top newcomer

By Travis Yoesting

Though a soccer veteran of 10 years, Allie Werner may have gone into her freshman year at All Saints a little timid.

By the time her first season of high school soccer was over — after 28 goals and 12 assists — it was opposing defenders who were apprehensive about facing the young Lady Trojans star.

Werner is the Tyler MorningTelegraph’s and ETFinalScore.com’s All-East Texas Girls Soccer Newcomer of the Year, keeping the award on the west side of Tyler by following John Tyler’s Yelsi Rosales and Esperanza Zavaleta, who shared the 2012 honor.

“Before the year started I was intimidated by playing girls three years older than me,” Werner said. “After our first game I realized there wasn’t such a big difference between a freshman and a senior.”

Werner, a forward who plays club soccer for Sting 98 in Dallas, adapted well to the high school game, though she admitted there was a “huge difference” in the two styles of play.

“Club soccer relies more on technical ability and high school soccer is more about physicality,” Werner said.

All Saints, a powerhouse in the late 2000s with three straight titles from 2006-2008, came into the 2012-13 season with a young squad — only one senior and a new coach, Jeremey Bernard.

Werner and her teammates quickly learned they could compete.

“I also didn’t know how strong our team really was until we played our first few games,” she said. “We ended up winning a lot more than anyone expected and making it to the regional playoffs.”

The Lady Trojans went 10-4-3 this season, finishing third in a competitive district. They lost 3-0 to district rival and eventual state champion Dallas Parish Episcopal in the state quarterfinals, the closest any team played the Lady Panthers in the postseason.

Werner, who said her favorite moment of the year was the 1-0 double-overtime victory over Fort Worth Christian in the area playoffs, played a pivotal role throughout the season as the go-to goal scorer for All Saints, though she gives plenty of credit to her teammates.

“We had an amazing defense and a strong midfield that could always work the ball up to me or another forward where we could go to goal,” Werner said. “I enjoyed the pressure and I loved every game that I played.”

The next few years look bright for Werner and the Lady Trojans.

“We have a lot of potential for later years,” Werner said. “I think our team will come back with more confidence and experience and our coaches know more about our personal strengths and weaknesses. … We also have a strong group of soccer players coming up from middle school in the next few years.

“I cannot wait for next year.”

 

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2013 All-East Texas Girls Soccer Team

Most Valuable Player

SAVANNAH HENDERSON

School: Mabank

Class: Senior

Position: F

Stats: Scored school-record 75 goals in one season, District 31-4A MVP

 

Newcomer of the Year

ALLIE WERNER

School: All Saints

Class: Freshman

Position: F

Stats: 28 goals, 12 assists; TAPPS All-State First Team

 

Coach of the Year

DAVID COLLINS

School: Bullard Brook Hill

Stats: Led the Lady Guard to a TAPPS Division III state title in program’s second year of TAPPS.

 

First Team

ARI ASSAD

School: Brook Hill

Class: Sophomore

Position: D

Stats: TAPPS All-State First Team

 

LANIE BENNETT

School: Kilgore

Class: Junior

Position: D

Stats: 10 goals, 32-4A Def. POY

 

LANIE BENNETT

School: Kilgore

Class: Junior

Position: D

Stats: 10 goals, 32-4A Def. POY

 

LACEE BLAKELEY

School: Hallsville

Class: Senior

Position: F

Stats: 23 goals, 19 assists

 

AMANDA CABRERA

School: Pine Tree

Class: Senior

Position: MF

Stats: 20 goals, 9 assists

 

LAUREN HALL

School: Longview

Class: Junior

Position: MF

Stats: 10 goals, 8 assists

 

JULIA HARRISON

School: Robert E. Lee

Class: Senior

Position: MF/D

Stats: 7 goals, 12-5A First Team

 

BRITTANY MATTHEWS

School: Whitehouse

Class: Senior

Position: F

Stats: 22 goals, 5 assists

 

RAVEN PARTIN

School: Henderson

Class: Senior

Position: GK

Stats: 32-4A Keeper of the Year

 

YELSI ROSALES

School: John Tyler

Class: Sophomore

Position: D

Stats: 31-4A Defensive POY

 

AMANDA WALLIN

School: Pine Tree

Class: Senior

Position: F/MF

Stats: 20 goals, 9 assists

 

KENDALL WELLS

School: Brook Hill

Class: Junior

Position: MF

Stats: 20 goals, 13 assists

 

Second Team

HAYLEY DUMESNIL

School: Brook Hill

Class: Junior

Position: F

Stats: 15 goals,10 assists

 

KATIE MANN

School: Lindale

Class: Senior

Position: F

Stats: 20 goals, 6 assists

 

JENNA MCCARTY

School: Nacogdoches

Class: Senior

Position: MF/D

Stats: 35-4A Most Valuable Player

 

MARISA NESBITT

School: Whitehouse

Class: Senior

Position: D

Stats: 31-4A Co-Newcomer of Year

 

ALEX PAYNE

School: Chapel Hill

Class: Sophomore

Position: MF

Stats: 31-4A Midfielder of the Year

 

IMELDA PINA

School: Mount Pleasant

Class: Senior

Position: D

Stats: 29-4A Defensive Player of Year

 

EMILY SHELTON

School: Pine Tree

Class: Senior

Position: F/MF

Stats: 32-4A Utility Player of the Year

 

ANNA SOLIS

School: Pine Tree

Class: Senior

Position: D

Stats: 32-4A Defensive Player of Year

 

BAILEY SWAIN

School: Mabank

Class: Sophomore

Position: GK

Stats: .86 goals against average

 

SYDNEY TILLMAN

School: Lindale

Class: Senior

Position: F/MF

Stats: 38 goals, 13 assists

 

XOCHITI ZAVALA

School: Palestine

Class: Senior

Position: F

Stats: 20 goals, 12 assists

 

Honorable Mention

All Saints: Mackenzie Ferguson, Jr.; Athens: Cori Earnest, Brielle Patton; Brook Hill: Janet Nwachukwu, So., Lily Cool, Jr., Hayden Langemeier, Jr.; Bishop Gorman: Ce Ce Guzman, Jr., Kristian Loving, Fr.; Carthage: Kendi Hemphill, Sr.; Chapel Hill: Caity Emmons, Sr., Janika Kokko, Kristen Pence; Grace Community: Rilee Miller, Sr.; Caroline Rook, Sr.; Hallsville: Alexis Smith, Sr., Erin Reynolds, Sr., Olivia Stanton, Jr., MaKenzie Dudley, So., Cassie Perry, So.; Jacksonville: Kennison Chambless, Sr., Callie Reagan, So., Christina Belk, Sr., Jasmin Rodriguez, Jr.; John Tyler: Adrianna Perez, Rebecca Renteria, Esperanza Zavaleta; Kilgore: Nichole Flores, Jr., Kaity Stoner, Sr., Sarah Mendenhall, Sr.; Lindale: Sarah McGregor, Sr., Brooklyn Van Winkle; Longview: Jennifer Boudreau, Sr., Rhejanne Durrant, Jr., Chelsea McHenry, Keeley Bowles, Sr. Aide Godoy, Jr; Mabank: Allie Duke-Sandlin, Vivian Duong, Samantha Gomez, Kacie Williams; Mount Pleasant: Mayra Martinez, Sr., Priscilla Dela Riva, Jr., Alina Luna, Sr., Judith Salazar, Sr.; Nacogdoches: Lori Manchack, So., Piper Adkins, So., Cindy Hernandez, Jr., Victoria Hetrick, Jr.; Palestine: Danielle Harroff, Jr., Alex Rocha, So., Karina Rodas, Jr., Nidia Umanzon, Sr., Pine Tree: Devin Assenheimer, Sr., Lilly Cabrera, So., Brittany Hollis, Sr., Kaiti Lawrence, Sr., Victoria Flores, Jr.; Robert E. Lee: Brooke Johnston, Sr.; Libby George, Sr.; Spring Hill: Destiny Walker, Fr., Sofia Hadley, So.; Whitehouse: Kira Brune, Sr., Bonnie Cotton, Becca Garcia, Tara Johnson.