EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – In 2019, the Bel Air boys soccer team ran through the state of Texas on their way to the first state championship in program history.
Four years later, the Highlanders are once again back in the Class 5A Final Four, just two wins away from a second state title and even more impressive mark: an undefeated season.
Top-ranked Bel Air enters Thursday’s 5A state semifinal match with Mission Sharyland undefeated in 2023 at 27-0-1. The Highlanders’ lone draw on the season on Jan. 5 vs. Grapevine.
“Bel Air has been a program for years that excels. We ask a lot of these young men, but they buy into it and that’s why they excel,” said Bel Air associate head coach Alejandro Delgado.
During the playoffs, Bel Air has raised its game. The Highlanders have outscored opponents 18-1 and have put together clean sheets in each of the last three games.
However, the semifinals will present some very tough tasks for Bel Air. The Highlanders will be without one of the state’s leading scorers in senior Rodolfo Gonzalez, as well as key starter, junior Sebastian Licon.
Gonzalez and Licon both received red cards in Bel Air’s Regional Final victory over Midlothian last Saturday. By virtue, they both must miss the next match while serving a one-game suspension.
Unfortunately for that duo, the next match comes in the state semifinals. Bel Air will look to move past their absences and continue their undefeated run.
Bel Air and Mission Sharyland will kickoff at 4 p.m. MT on Thursday in Georgetown in the Class 5A State Semifinals. The winner will face the winner of the Frisco Lone Star-Pflugerville Connally clash in the other semifinal.
KTSM 9 Sports is the only El Paso media organization to make the trip to Georgetown for the Final Four and will have full, exclusive coverage of the Highlanders all week on KTSM.
