Boys soccer: Leto advances to 3A-9 final

A year ago, the Leto High boys soccer team won one game. Coming into this season, first-year coach Aaron Killips said the biggest goals facing him with the program were establishing discipline and setting the team on a positive path.

"This team was right where a lot of the other sports were at this school, and that wasn't living up to their best," Killips said. "The first things I had to do here was establish discipline and set goals — and it's finally starting to pay off."

It paid off Thursday night as the Falcons earned an automatic bid to the region tournament and a spot in the Class 3A-District 9 final with a 3-2 victory against Lennard.

Leto will host Jesuit tonight in the district final. The Tigers defeated King, 3-0.

Leto broke a 1-all tie on a 25-yard shot by Thomas Valencia, and the Falcons added a goal on a 30-yarder from Angel Reyes-Salas.

Leto had gotten an early goal from Alfredo Apracio. Lennard's goals came from Raudel Garcia and Alejandro Salmeron.

In Jesuit's victory, Luis Ortiz found midfielder Joe Metzger in the 12th minute on the opposite side of the box with a pass, and the junior flicked it in for a goal.

Chris Conlon and Brett Durrance added some insurance for the Tigers, while Garrett Garcia picked up two assists.

Jarrett Guthrie

4A-8: Freedom, Gaither advance

Freedom and Gaither clinched berths in Saturday's Class 4A-District 8 final. Freedom routed Wiregrass Ranch, 4-0, in the opener and Gaither got past host Steinbrenner, 4-2.

Trailing 1-0, Austin Renz evened the score for Steinbrenner on a penalty kick, but Jacob Snidle put the Cowboys back ahead a minute later. Jonas Bukh scored his second goal midway through the second half to put Gaither up 3-1. Steinbrenner cut it to 3-2, but Gaither scored less than a minute later to seal the win.

"We wanted home field and wanted to avenge losing earlier this year to Steinbrenner," Gaither coach Eric Sims said. "Our goal is the district championship, and we are in a good spot."

In the opener, Freedom got off to a slow start but rallied with three first-half goals. The Patriots' offense was sluggish at the start, but Jett Wright scored the first of his two goals midway through the first half, then followed on a breakaway minutes later.

"We are getting to where we need to be," Freedom coach Dennis Defflinger said. "We are starting to put it together. We've had some trouble, but we are getting there."

Jeff Berlinicke