From the moment Seven Lakes soccer team stepped foot on campus this school year the Spartans have believed they could win a state championship.

It was their number one goal, something they set out to do from the start and what they had dedicated the past two years to accomplish.

So when the game clock struck zero’s on Saturday night at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown and the scoreboard showed that Seven Lakes had beaten Dripping Springs 2-1 in the Class 6A State Final, no player or coach on the Spartans could hold in their emotions. Everything had led up to that moment and it was an overwhelming moment.

“It means everything,” said senior striker Hunter Merritt. “All year I’ve had the home screen of my phone as a picture of us crying right here on this same field last year. We did it for the seniors. We love each other so much. That’s all I can say is that this is everything.”

Merrit was the centerpiece of the win, being named the games MVP after scoring both of Seven Lakes goals after scoring two goals in the state semifinal the day before.

The first goal came in the second half, the Spartans had dominated the game through the first half but never found the go ahead goal, but it finally came in the 55^th minute when Aidan Morrison whipped in a cross that Kortay Koc volleyed on target, but the Dripping Springs keeper saved it, spilling it out in front of Merrett who put it in the back of the net.

Merritt’s second came seven minutes later, a ball got booted upfield and Merrett beat the keeper to it, dribbling the ball between his legs and then passing it into an empty net to make things 2-0.

“I could not be more happy for that kid,” said Seven Lakes head coach Jimmy Krueger. “Last year he had to sit on the sidelines a bit because we had so many talented explosive offensive players. But he accepted his role within the team and he grinded. Those types of players always come up big when you need them. He came up big time and time again for us and I can’t belive he’s able to end his senior year as a state champion and MVP performance.”

Dripping Springs pulled a goal back in the 66^th minute on a 35-yard free kick from Joey Svoboda and the Tigers created chances as time dwindled down, but the Spartans were able to hang on for the win.

“We’ve been in situations like this where we had to close out games and we knew we just had to let the clock keep ticking and eventually we’d be able to celebrate. We defended for our lives, we hung on and now we’re state champs. It’s an incredible feeling.”

Seven Lakes will graduate 10 players from this years team, including three that started the state championship match in Merrett, Gabriel Gonzalez and Alexis Matute. The senior class raised the bar for the program, just as last years did. And now it’s on the future classes to keep the tradition going.

“Last years group broke through a lot, they won a regional quarterfinal at Rhodes which we had never done, they won a regional semifinal which we had never done and they made the state tournament,” Krueger said. “This class came in and they took it one step further. They challenged themselves to win the whole thing and we did it. I’m just so proud of each and every one of these guys.”