Luke Anderson’s overtime goal seals the Eagles first state title

By Aro Majumder
For the Austin Sports Journal

Salado’s Luke Anderson laid on the ground and waited as four of his teammates piled on top of him.

Just under three minutes into the first of two overtime periods, Caine Cruddas’ cross pass found Anderson at the edge of the six-yard box. Cruddas said he thought he was going to lose the ball but managed to poke it across to Anderson, who slotted it the back of the net.

For the first time on Thursday night at Georgetown’s Birkelbach Field, Salado held the lead. The Eagles held on for the 3-2 overtime win over River Oaks Castleberry to claim its first boys soccer UIL Class 4A Division I state championship.

“Knowing that we’re never out of the game, being aggressive the whole time and then finding the opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net,” Anderson said of his team’s mindset throughout the game.

Salado reached Thursday’s state final after the UIL disqualified Progreso for an ineligible player minutes before the start of the game of their semifinal game.

“Everybody believes we shouldn’t be here,” Cruddas said. “But here we are, and we are state champions.” 

A year ago, the two teams met in a regional quarterfinal that Castleberry squeaked by the Eagles, 1-0. Thursday night in the final game of the day, began as a back-and-forth contest that nearly resembled a basketball game and finished with a combined 20 shots on goal.

Castleberry struck inside five minutes when Christian Serrato’s free kick from just out the box got by Cole Cooley’s outstretched arm.

In just a few short minutes, Luke Munson answered for Salado, Davis Kasper fired a high, slicing cross that found the junior at the edge of the box, and Munson looped his header into the top-right corner of the net, just out of Caleb Castaneda’s reach.

Jose Chairez’s put the Lions back on top when he dinked a shot over Cooley late in the first half, and the Lions nearly added another early in the second half.

Cooley’s goalline save on a header kept the Eagles within one strike of the ball, and with less than 14 minutes to play, they found it. 

Utilizing arm strength that came from previous experience as a goalie and hours of practice, Cooley sent a long throw into the Castleberry box that bounced over everyone except junior Damonte Foster, who sent a shot into the top of the net.

The teams played another frantic final five minutes trying to avoid extra time, which included Cooley rushing off his line to stuff Chairez’s potential game-winning goal attempt, but it was Anderson’s overtime goal that sealed it.

“It’s definitely very sweet,” Anderson said. “Four years in the making, lots of building, lots of practices.”