The Cougars also had four players named to the District 25-5A team. Goalkeeper Brooks Grubb and midfielder Bryan Gavarrete were first-team picks. Borja (midfield) and forward Jeff Anumu were second-team picks.

Cougar Ronni Muraoka was a first-team 25-5A selection. Jade Norwood and Cayla Brown were second team and honorable mention went to Jacky Gonzalez and DiDi Rivera. Pflugerville’s Christie Hinojosa was a first-team pick. Eryn Cruz and Erin Kennedy both were second-team selections and honorable mention went to Paige Piland, Lillie Elhert and Ashley Richter.

Kabutey Ebeheakey was a first-team pick for the Panther boys as were Taji Lewis and Gabe Dunham. Diego Villafranco, Tito Rincon and Andy Martinec were second-team selections. Honorable mention went to Steven Strybos, Isaac Lopez and Vince Servantez.

Hawks Michael Hicks, Carlos Gomez, Gabe Williams and Anselmo Jimenez were first-team all district picks for the district champion Hawks.

Chase Tabor, Henry Castellanos, Martin Ramirez and Keith Warren were second-team selections.

Honorable mention went to Casey Tilley, Ryan Perez and Michael White.

Tyane Ramos, Natalie Morales and Megan Baker were first-team picks on the girls’ side. Asia Williams, Kamille Johnson and Julie Saba were second-team picks while honorable mention went to Haley Cantu, Katelyn Frederick and Courtney Bieda.

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.”

Going into the game the Hawks knew they had a tough opponent in New Braunfels Canyon, who had only lost two games this season. The Cougars came into the game with a seasoned and experience bunch with several players having secured college scholarships to play at the next level.

Hawk coach Frank Hense knew that his team would have to play at their best and felt like they could attack on counters to get on the board. This was not the first time these two squads had faced one another, as they had scrimmaged prior to the start of the season. The Cougars took that meeting with a 6-3 win.

The two teams came out probing one another, trying to find gaps in the defense to make runs on the goals. The Cougars had the first scoring opportunity, but their shot hit the left post and went back out for the Hawks defense to clear.

The Lady Hawks wasted no time in moving down the field and Samantha Nunez tried her luck at putting the ball in the net with a low shot that the keeper collected.

The Cougars took the ball down a minute later and sent in a cross that resulted in a score making it 1-0 for the Cougars.

A mere four minutes later a ball was played in that Hawk keeper Reaghen Coleman stopped. But the rebound was fired in for a goal and the Cougars were up 2-0 and looking for more.

The Hawks would piece together some nice passes and make a push up field. Tyane Ramos fed a clean pass to Nunez who fired a low shot that just missed the mark.

The Cougars focused on trying to take control of the game by shutting down several lanes and clogging the middle for the Hawks which made things tough.

At the start of the second half, the Cougars tried to add to the lead with timely passes and ball movement. Coleman came up with several saves and kept the Hawks in the game. The Hawks kept this high octane offense from scoring their usual amount of goals.

Nunez fired a rocket of a shot that was gobbled up by the Cougar keeper denying the Hawks again.

With time running down, the Cougars took advantage of a rush up field by the Hawks and brought it back for a promising counter. The Cougars peppered the goal with shots that were blocked back out for additional chances and on the third one, the ball found its mark putting Canyon up 3-0.

The Lady Hawks had a good season and certainly gained experience for next year when the entire team will return.

As he has done all season long, Hendrickson’s Michael Hicks was the engine that propelled the offense, scoring two goals and assisting on a third. With the win the Hawks move on to face Dripping Springs on Friday.

“This is the eighth time we’ve played them in the last three years,” Hendrickson coach Bill Anderson said. “We knew we could go at them.”

The Cougars controlled the field for the opening 13 minutes before a yellow card got them in trouble. The card, issued in the 27th minute, set up Hicks for a penalty kick that he fired low past the Canyon goalie and into the back of the net to put Hendrickson up 1-0. The card was the first of seven given to the Cougars, three of them resulting in ejections.

Canyon came back and scored the first of their two first half goals just four minutes later. Hendrickson answered six minutes after the second yellow card of the game given to the Cougars. The Hawks were given a free kick from the 35-yard line and Hicks picked up a rebound off a shot by Chase Tabor and beat the Canyon keeper for his second goal of the game.

The Cougars were quick to answer again. Two minutes after the Hendrickson score, Canyon got a goal off a throw-in that glanced off Hawk goalie Casey Tilly and into the net.

“We weren’t mentally tough on their set plays,” Anderson said of the goals his team allowed.

The game seemed headed into halftime in a tie, but with 16 seconds remaining in the first half, Hicks cut his way through the Cougar defense and fed Gabe Williams for what would be the game-winning score.

The Hawks added their final goal in the 37th minute of the second half when Julio Espinosa took a free kick from the 20-yard line and bent it around the Cougar defense and into the net.

Hendrickson now must deal with the top team in central Texas, the Dripping Springs Tigers. While Anderson knows his team has its work cut out for them, he believes they will be up to the challenge.

“I feel good about the team,” he said. “Earlier in the year I didn’t know how good we’d be. They have continually progressed and I don’t think we’ve peaked. I feel good about our chances. I’ll put these boys up against anybody right now.”

The Hawks opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over Travis. Hicks and Williams scored for Hendrickson.

“This was a tough, hard-fought win,” Hawk coach Frank Hense said.

The Hawks came right at their opponents with fast forwards and nice ball movement, and their attack paved the way for some early chances. Canyon Lake goalie Andrea Jacobs was instrumental in keeping the game scoreless throughout much of the first half. Samantha Nunez and Tyane Ramos passed to one another and set up several shots that were deflected and saved despite being on target. Hendrickson had an apparent goal called back with five minutes left in the first half for an off-sides call and the first half ended in a 0-0 tie.

Hendrickson came out for the second half much the same way they did in the first, peppering the goal with shots. Megan Baker fired a rocket that Jacobs had to catch and keep from going into the upper right corner of the goal a mere minute in.

Nunez wasted no time in shredding the defense as she dribbled in past several defenders to force a break away that she fired past the charging goalie to make it 1-0, Hendrickson.

Canyon Lake would get on the board with a score two minutes later due to a minor break down in the defense. Canyon Lake’s Danielle Carpenter took the pass and ran in on Raeghan Coleman who came out to challenge the shot and barely missed a nice save tying the score at 1-1.

In the 23rd minute junior Julie Saba came charging in for the ball. She was taken out by the keeper and forced to leave the game. Hendrickson responded to losing Saba by scoring a minute later as Asia Williams fed a cross to Ramos who blasted a shot past Jacobs making it 2-1.

With time running out Canyon Lake took advantage of a missed play at the back and were awarded a free kick right at the edge of the box. Carpenter took a short pass and launched a shot into the upper corner of the goal to make it 2-2 in regulation play with less then a minute left.

Hendrickson took the short break to talk and discuss their plan of attack. Bringing the pressure once again they came close to scoring several times in the first of the two 10-minute overtimes. Ramos fed a well placed cross that Nunez wasted no time in putting in the back of the old onion bag making it 3-2, and sending Hendrickson on to the win.

The Hawks will take on the winner of the Canyon-Marble Falls game on Thursday or Friday.