ROUND ROCK — The Hendrickson High boys soccer team’s season ended with a 3-0 loss to Dripping Springs on Friday.

The Hawks entered the game on an offensive roll, having scored four times to beat New Braunfels Canyon in the Area round but could not find the mark against the Tigers. Hendrickson suffered a serious blow to their chances when leading scorer Michael Hicks was knocked out of the game early in the first half.

“When Michael Hicks got injured, it allowed Dripping Springs to double team Gabe Williams, and send an extra player to help shut down Julio Espinosa in the middle of the field,” Hawk coach Bill Anderson explained. “We have the ability to score from a lot of different areas, but that is when the machine is in sync. Without (Hicks), we never quite established a complete pattern of play.”

The fact Hicks was not on the pitch did not stop the Hawks from getting scoring chances, but ultimately it did prevent them from putting the ball in the net.

“Obviously Michael has been a huge part of our success this season,” Anderson said. “The boys played hard in his absence, but our leading scorer was off the field for almost the entire game. We still managed to produce some good play, but couldn’t pull the trigger on a few very good scoring opportunities.”

The game marked the end of the line for six Hendrickson seniors. Sergio Gomez, Hicks, Martin Ramirez, Keith Warren, Tommy Skrlec and Ivan Aguilera will all graduate this spring. In their four years playing at Hendrickson they have twice helped the Hawks to area titles and established the Hawks as a perennial playoff team. Anderson said they will be missed.

“These young men have worked so hard for the team for four years,” he said. “At the start of the year, we knew that we needed leadership, and they got it done. Michael was a four-year starter, and Sergio Gomez was an important member of the 2009 squad. They both were tremendous as leaders this year. Martin Ramirez and Keith Warren also turned out to be crucial in our overall scheme. All of these guys were great kids, and easy to coach, and they were winners. This year’s seniors won district in three of the four years that they were in school. That is an accomplishment that would stand up in any program and any district across the state. Three out of four district championships is almost unheard of in UIL soccer.”

Despite the loss of these key seniors, the future looks very bright for the Hawk program. The majority of the team returns next year including sensational sophomore Gabe Williams. Anderson said that his returning players, plus a talented group of junior varsity and freshmen players will combine to form, what he hopes, is another solid Hendrickson squad next year.

“At Hendrickson everyone gets fired at the end of the season,” he said. “The varsity guys that return are good players, but our JV team only lost one game all year, and there is plenty of talent there. Our freshman team struggled, but showed potential at the end of the season. Plus, our incoming freshman class has some outstanding talent. The boys who want to be part of, and continue to build upon the success of this year’s team will come out and work for it during the off-season. If they pay attention to the process, then the product will take care of itself. Obviously we are looking forward to another outstanding season, but district championships and playoff runs are earned not bestowed or bequeathed. We live by ‘Hard Promises’ with the Hawks.”