Seven Lakes has made itself into a dynasty in District 19-6A.

The Spartans have cemented themselves as one of the premier programs in the state of Texas over the past decade and it’s been highlighted by the teams over the past five years. Seven Lakes came into this year wanting to extend an important streak and they did that on Tuesday, clinching a fifth straight district title with a win over Jordan. Following that up with a tie on Friday, 3-3, against a strong Paetow team.

“This program has become that dynasty here and its something that we want to continue to build on,” said junior winger Kortay Koc. “The great thing about these guys is we aren’t going to be happy with it. Clinching five district championships is great but we want more and we want to keep this going next year too.”

It was a gutsy performance by Seven Lakes to earn the tie on Friday, coming from behind while shorthanded and earning the tie against a Paetow team that was fighting for its playoff lives.

“It was almost like a playoff environment, which is good for us,” said Seven lakes head coach Jimmy Krueger. “It’s good for some of those players to get experience where we are playing against a team that has nothing to lose. It was back and forth and it’s good that we responded well. We responded the way we needed to in the second half and I’m proud they never stopped playing.”

The Spartans took the lead in the 23^rd minute of the first half when they earned a penalty, Kortay Koc stepped up to take it and even after his initial effort was saved, the junior followed his rebound and scored on a tap in, getting it past the Paetow keeper. The Panthers responded almost immediately, with Cesar Hernandez stepping up and placing a free kick past the keeper from 20-yards out to tie the game just two minutes later.

Koc put the Spartans back in front just four minutes into the second half, taking a short corner kick and then receiving the ball at the corner of the 18-yard box where he curled his shot around the keeper for a goal. Paetow came back to equalize again in the 58^th minute on a Roberta Sepulveda-De Paz header and then after a penalty just a minute later, Hernandez gave the Panthers the lead, calmly putting his shot past the keeper.

But Seven Lakes put things in a different gear for the remaining 20 minutes of the game. Daniel Ejerenwa tied it in the 65^th minute after a great team play where he received the ball in the center of the box after a low cross and the Spartans kept pushing until the final whistle to find a winner, but ultimately came up just short of that goal.

“This team is unique in that no matter what adversity we’ve faced, we bounce back and get right back up,” Koc said. “The energy we showed after we went down was higher than what we had early in the game, and it shows the fight we do have. We didn’t get the three points, but we responded well and that’s what we have to build off of going into the last part of district.”

The Spartans will get a much needed break in the form of spring break before playing in their final two regular season games the final week. The players are going to enjoy the time off, but their eyes are on preparing for a playoff run.

“The season is a grind and I just told the guys after the game that spring break couldn’t have come for us at a better time,” Krueger said. “They’ll be able to recover a bit physically and mentally before they get back at it and ready to go for the final two ames of district and get playoff ready.”