The Bryan Lady Vikings' soccer team left Thursday to prepare for a rare morning game, while weather reports indicated a chance of thunderstorms.
They could have set up hurdles along the highway, and the Bryan soccer team would not have cared.
"The girls are used to playing at 7 o'clock and now you turn around and ask them to play on one of the biggest weekends of soccer at 11 o'clock," Bryan coach Amy Pettibone said. "Playing at 11 or midnight, on a parking lot or a big, giant field, I don't care. We're going to line up and play."
Bryan (19-8-2) meets Round Rock Westwood (17-5-4) in the first Class 5A Region II girls semifinal at 11 a.m. Friday at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Round Rock. District 12-5A champion Belton (23-4-2) will face The Woodlands (26-2) in the other semifinal. The championship match is set for 11 a.m. Saturday.
Bryan beat Sachse 2-1 on the seventh attempt in a shootout in the regional quarterfinals.
Westwood came from behind to win 3-1 over 16-5A rival Stony Point in the regional quarterfinals. Caitlin Pritchard, Emily Jorgens and freshman Taylor Johnson scored the Lady Warriors' goals.
"I haven't seen them, but I've gotten some scouting reports on them," Pettibone said. "They've got a 6-2 girl [Mikayla Engel] that plays in the middle, a tall blonde that distributes well. They play very wide. They are a solid team that finished second in their district behind Round Rock McNeil, which is a very good team."
Westwood head coach Jim Donahue picked up his 500th career coaching victory this season.
"Jim Donahue has been there forever," Pettibone said. "They are going to be well-coached, and they will be a solid team. At this point, there aren't going to be any bad teams."
Bryan continues to be one of the best rags-to-riches stories in the state playoffs. The Lady Vikings had never won a playoff match prior to this year.
"Why would you, in a million years, think that [Bryan] is going to be in a regional championship?" Pettibone said. "It would make a good movie. A team that never advanced in the playoffs and the hardships they faced during the year, losing a big starter like Candace Ramsdell. We had some kids quit early. They had a new coach come in with a new philosophy.
"And look what they've done. It's been a miracle season. It's a magic team. I've been soaking it all in, because you never know when it's going to happen again."