Ten years ago, Carley Phillips won a 5A soccer state championship as a player at Plano West, and in her first year as head coach of her alma mater, she led the pack to their fifth title in 12 seasons last month.
“Plano West has such a strong soccer tradition,” Phillips said. “I feel so lucky to have been able to come back and be a part of that.”
After defeating teams from across North Texas, including Fossil Ridge, Grapevine and district rival Flower Mound, the Lady Wolves beat El Paso Montwood and Flower Mound Marcus in the Regional Tournament in Midland to clinch a spot in the state tournament for a sixth time in their history.
On April 18 the Lady Wolves headed off to Georgetown for the state tournament for the first time since 2007, when they won the championship. Their first game, the state semi-final was against the Klein Oak High School Panthers on April 19. The morning began with a few jitters from players on the team; no member of the team had ever played in the state tournament. After the pageantry of the big stage, which included pictures and an international introduction, the Lady Wolves were ready to take on the Panthers. With the stands full of Wolfpack faithful, Plano West showed their strength and dominance. Early on in the game, the Lady Wolves had numerous opportunities but could not connect; however, kept the tempo controlled. On the attack, the Lady Wolves were going to the goal when junior Casie Ramsier was fouled in the box, setting up a penalty kick. Senior defender Karson Keogh took the kick and it slid past the left post and gave Plano West the 1-0 advantage. Still with the lead and near the half, sophomore Tori Gates got the ball, and after a miscue by the Panther’s goalkeeper, Gates had an open net shot that she converted with just 30 seconds remaining before halftime. The 2-0 halftime score was protected by great defense from the Lady Wolves and some key saves by West goalkeeper junior Claire Wheatley. Klein Oak could not get anything going and the Lady Wolves eliminated the Panthers and headed to the state title game.
“All I could think in my mind was, we can do this, we are going to win state,” junior defender Taylor Jackson said.
After a third place finish in district, Plano West was only 80 minutes away from winning the state championship, and the Lady Wolves could feel it.
“After beating Klein Oak, I knew that we were going to win state,” senior forward Logan Beal said. “I knew we were not going that far and losing in the finals.”
After an off day Friday in which the girls took it easy and got some TLC, the stage was set for the title game against Katy Seven Lakes. After an early morning warm-up, the Lady Wolves set off for Birkelbach Field where the championship game awaited them. As time grew closer to kick-off, the stands continued to fill up with supporters from Plano West and pre-game jitters were slowly disappearing as confidence began to grow on the West sideline. Just past 11 a.m., the game was underway and a spectator could tell that the Lady Wolves came to play and were tactically the better team on the field. As time ticked away and they hit the halfway point of the first half, Plano West made their move. Casie Ramsier connected a pass into the box to Beal, who had her shot denied but was able to get the ball back, and this time she dished it off to Brooke Ramsier, who passed it to the goalie to put West ahead 1-0.
“It was so exciting that I was able to help my team in such a large way,” Brooke Ramsier said. “And the fact that it came from Logan, my future Auburn teammate, and Casie, my twin, just made it 10 times better.”
After jubilation and a celebration on the field, on the sideline and in the stands, the Lady Wolves went back to work defending their new lead. A huge play occurred less than a minute after the goal, when Wheatley came out of the box quite a distance to fend off a shot attempt from Seven Lakes to keep the lead in hand. A few more half chances did not pan out for Seven Lakes, and the first 40 minutes were in the book with Plano West still ahead 1-0. The Lady Wolves came out of the locker room very loose and calm and some even overly energetic with the thought of being only a half away from a state title. The second half saw some great defensive plays from the Lady Wolves backfield, made up of Keogh, Jackson, junior Sparky Fischer and junior Midori Rinkliff. The scoreboard was one of the most watched things in the stadium. As time trickled off second by second, the end was getting closer, and what all the girls had worked so hard for was almost a reality. Just a while after noon, the clock struck triple zero and the West bench erupted and sprinted out to meet Brooke Ramsier for a whole team hug. A few tears were flowing, but most faces were glowing as the team headed back towards their fans who had supported them the whole way to be presented with their medals.
“The school came together with their great support,” Fischer said. “We could not have done it without all our fans who have driven great lengths to come cheer and support us.”
As principal Kathy King placed a gold medal around each and every player’s neck, it was beginning to set in as every once and a while as one of the players would scream, “State,” and look down at their medal.
“We had wanted to win so badly and we had finally done it,”Jacksonsaid. “It was so great to have all of our fans there, too. Their energy was amazing.”
The Lady Wolves hoisted the trophy, cheering on newly named State Tournament MVP Brooke Ramsier, and they could officially call themselves state champions. As Phillips had done on previous road trips, she preached taking care of business, and, well the Lady Wolves did take care of business and have the hardwood to prove it.
“The season did not end,” senior Julie Shindler said. “We finished it.”
