Plano Wildcat Men's Soccer: Official Site

Top 10 Stories of 2009: 3. Wildcat boys soccer claims state title

BY Andrew Snyder, Staff Writer, Plano Star Courier
Published: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 6:20 PM CST

It used to be that 2000 was the last year Plano Senior won a state title in boys soccer. Now future teams have
a new date to gauge their progress by, as the Wildcats defeated Brownsville Lopez, 3-1, to establish
themselves as the 2009 Class 5A State Champions.

Plano head coach Bob Weir has had his share of state celebrations, as he has coached the Wildcats to each
title victory, but nothing about either today’s game or the aftermath felt familiar.

“It’s always enjoyable,” Weir said. “It was a great experience.”

With a record of 5-1 in state title matches coming in, 6-1 going out, the odds were on Plano’s side. But the
momentum carried in from the Wildcats’ 3-0 semi-final victory took a hit when the Lobos scored the game’s
opening goal. In the 12th minute, junior Jorge Cantu put the Wildcats on the defensive.

Plano was quick to retaliate and Weir said that after allowing that first goal his team picked the momentum
right back up again. One minute later, senior defender Joe Denton provided legwork up front with an
eight-yard shot into the net. Scoring settled down for a while after that and nearing the half the game was still
deadlocked. But the Wildcats decided to put a little more space in the scoreboard, and in the 37th minute
senior Tim Willams took full advantage of an assist from senior Ryan McDuff. The ball came in and after
bouncing off the keeper, Williams booted it in to close the half 2-1, Plano.

“Tim had been working hard all game,” Weir said. “He set up a lot of opportunities and was finally able to
finish.”

“I was just glad I was in the right spot for it,” Williams said.

A single goal didn’t guarantee victory, though.

“Those Lobos,” McDuff said. “They kept fighting all game long.”

Plano continued to control things from there, forcing Lopez to worry over its own goal instead of taking the
attack to the Wildcats.

“After that [second goal],” Weir said. “We did a pretty good job maintaining possession and setting up
opportunities.”

It would take one more goal to bring the Wildcats to the comfortable final spread and senior Zach Balthazar
was ready to oblige. He scored the final goal, which McDuff called one of the most amazing shots he has ever
seen. The setup came from senior Ryan Brown, who sent the ball from the left side, right to Balthazar, who
laced it into the net in the 67th minute.

Weir and McDuff were sure to give credit to their opponent after the game. Both said that Lopez played a
great match: McDuff saying that the whole team was surprised at how intense the Lobos came out, despite a
lengthy shootout win in the semi-finals, and Weir saying the matchup was between two great teams and that
Plano was fortunate to come out on top.

But when the buzzer first rang, all thoughts were on celebration.

“It feels unbelievable,” Williams said.

“Right after the game, I was looking for my Andromeda teammates,” McDuff said. “I found Danny, and then
the whole bench cleared and everybody charged on field. After a year’s worth of hard work, it doesn’t
finish any better than that.”