Houston girls soccer edges Collierville to win AAA state title

MURFREESBORO — The girls on Houston High's soccer team are far too young to know what happened between Georgetown and Villanova 32 years ago. Coach David Wolff does, but he sure wasn't about to mention it.

That year, the Hoyas basketball team won every meeting against their conference rivals until the NCAA championship game, when the Wildcats pulled off a memorable upset.

There was no upset Saturday at Siegel Soccer Park though, as the Mustangs defeated Collierville for the third time this season, 1-0. Freshman Emma Riales netted the winner just before halftime.

Houston — ranked No. 1 in the USA Today national poll — ends the year with a 25-0 record.

"We're emotional because of all the intensity that was put into every practice and every game," Wolff said. "Nobody was given any quarter ... I put these girls under a lot of pressure and they had the resiliency and the guts to handle it."

Not only handled it but thrived. Riales said it was worth every bit of the effort.

"We'd scrimmage hard for 40 minutes and then he'd be like 'OK, six lines,'" she said. "That's a sprint from one end of the field to the other six times. That really helps at the end of these important games when you have to fight to the very end."

Collierville — which is runner-up for the third time in school history — made sure it was a fight all the way. After overtime victories against Oakland and Franklin, the Dragons (17-5-1) kept up the pressure throughout.

"I think the effort was there," said Collierville coach Brittany Streger. "I think the heart was there ... it's emotional for a lot of different reasons. You're here playing a team that you play all the time and you know it's going to be a tough game."

"Granted, I wanted the story to end differently but the story was still great."

Cara Young, who made a terrific diving header in front of her own goal to deflect a Collierville shot in the closing moments, acknowledged the Dragons' determination.

"They wanted it so bad," she said. "We had to come out and want it more and we did."

Houston has won eight state championships, third-best all-time behind Franklin (11) and  Baylor (nine). The Mustangs' senior class ends its career with a record of 85-2-4, two titles, a runner-up and a semifinal berth.

Reach John Varlas at john.varlas@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @johnvarlas.