ODESSA – Ninety seconds away from seeing their season end, the Brownwood Lions forced their fourth penalty kick shootout of the year – and remained perfect in the tiebreaker to secure the program’s first-ever trip to the regional championship of the playoffs.

“This has been a goal of all ours since taking the program over, just trying to turn the tide and take Brownwood soccer to places it’s never been before and we’re accomplishing that,” said Lions head coach Michael Westerman. “It’s a beautiful thing to see the look on the boys’ faces and the belief they have in themselves and the program when they’re able to accomplish things like this. I say it each game, but you see a little bit more belief each time that we’re a top team in the state of Texas, a tough opponent to beat, and a team that’s worthy enough to make a run at a state title.”

Knotted at 3-3 at the end of a 20-minute double-overtime session Friday at Ratliff Stadium, the Lions upended the El Paso Bowie Bears in the PK shootout as Hudson Fry made saves on all four Bowie attempts, while Eli Valenciano and Alex Vaquera converted two of Brownwood’s three tries to secure a Class 4A Division II Region I semifinal victory.

“Hudson came down with the flu, but luckily they caught it early and he’s been taking care of it. He wasn’t 100 percent but an outsider looking in wouldn’t have a single clue,” Westerman said. “He always gives us his best effort, and his best effort is the best keeper in the state of Texas, and I’ll continue to say that because he continues to prove that. Our shooters were able to put it in the back of the net, and then Hudson did the rest. We didn’t even have to make it to our final shooter.”

The Lions (15-1-2), who extended their unbeaten streak to 16 matches, will face Bridgeport (19-3) – who defeated Ferris (18-4-2) by a 2-0 count Friday night and ended Brownwood’s playoff run in 2025 – at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Stephenville with a  berth in the state semifinals at stake.

“We’ll run it back with Bridgeport, the team that eliminated us last year, so we’re already motivated and ready to get that one back and make amends for last year and continue to climb,” Westerman said.

Tied at 2 at the end of regulation Friday, Bowie (22-5) pulled ahead 3-2 just one minute into the second 10-minute overtime session on a goal by David Cadena.

“We conceded early in the second half of overtime and we had nine minutes to decide how we were going to react to it,” Westerman said.

But with 1:30 left until time expired, the Bears were whistled for a hand ball in the box, which resulted in a penalty kick. Isaac Morales converted his second goal of the night at that point, which led to the PK shootout.

“In the last 90 seconds a ball spills out and Isaac Morales takes a shot that smacks the arm of an El Paso defender inside the box,” Westerman said. “Isaac stepped up again and put it in the back of the net to send it into pens.”

Morales also scored just 15 minutes into the contest to give Brownwood a 1-0 lead, which it maintained until 27 minutes were left in the second half, when Bowie’s Cesae Alva scored to create a 1-1 deadlock.

Just three minutes later, however, the Lions responded with a header from Aiden Jimenez off an assist from Morales, and Brownwood was back in front, 2-1, with 24 minutes to go. But with 3:22 left in regulation, the Lions committed a foul in the box, which resulted in a penalty kick converted by Bowie that evened the score at 2 and forced overtime.

“We gave up a PK which sends it in to overtime and that was very upsetting with a lot of emotions being thrown around,” Westerman said. “We knew El Paso had a lot of momentum going into that overtime sequence, but it’s adversity we dealt with before and just a matter of how you’re going to respond to it.”

Westerman stated Friday’s victory will forever rank as one of the most memorable of his career, and currently stands as his favorite win as head coach of the Lions.

“This game had a little bit of everything and I’m just so incredibly proud of the boys,” Westerman said. “The magnitude of the game, and the pressure of the game, and the talent of the team we were playing against, to be able to respond constantly to adversity with that much on the line is something that’s incredible to experience. To come out on top is something special.”