Hockaday Rallies for SPC Soccer Title
With a four-year streak of soccer dominance hanging in the balance, Hockaday rallied to send its decorated senior class off in style.
Behind two goals from Ayla Sumer, including the game-winner in the closing minutes, the Daisies surged past Houston St. John’s 2-1 on Saturday in the SPC 4A championship game at Greenhill.
Hockaday earned its third consecutive conference crown, not counting the season when the SPC tournament was cancelled in 2021. All three victories have come against St. John’s, and all by margins of a single goal.
“It’s much harder when the pressure is on you, and you go in as the favorite. It’s so easy to get complacent and take it for granted,” said Hockaday head coach Rodney Skaife. “When we got to the playoffs, and we were missing people with injuries, it kind of galvanized us.”
After St. John’s topped Hockaday in the SPC championship game in 2019, the Daisies haven’t lost to a conference opponent. That streak began when Sumer and her fellow seniors were freshmen.
“We have so many people who are open to filling so many different roles on the team,” Sumer said. “It’s an amazing senior class. We knew it was our last game together. I really love playing with all of them.”
This season, Hockaday (15-1-1) was unbeaten following a season-opening defeat against Ursuline. Along the way, the Daisies defeated public-school powerhouse Highland Park and were rarely tested in league play.
As a defender, Sumer is not one of the team’s top scorers, but her performance reflects the team’s unselfish and often unpredictable offensive approach.
“They don’t care who scores. They just really want to win,” Skaife said. “Your left back never scores two goals. She stayed calm, and that’s what we wanted.”
St. Mark’s took third place in boys soccer by finishing with a 4-0 win over Greenhill on Saturday. The Lions also claimed third in boys basketball.
Greenhill finished on a high note in girls basketball after slipping past Episcopal School of Dallas 54-42 in the third-place game.
Elsewhere at the SPC winter tournament, St. Mark’s returned to the top spot in 4A swimming while Cistercian claimed its first championship at the 3A level.
The Lions didn’t win any gold medals but reached the podium in several events as part of their cumulative team score. Medalists included Adam Kappelman (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle), George Hoverman (50 freestyle), Martin Miller (500 freestyle), and Sebastian Illum (100 backstroke).
Cistercian’s individual gold medalists were Nico Sobenes (50 freestyle and 100 butterfly) and Tom Gambow (200 individual medley). Other top-three finishers for the Hawks included Gambow (100 backstroke), Nicholas Ringdahl (200 IM and 100 breaststroke), and Matthew Sickler (100 butterfly).
In wrestling, St. Mark’s placed fifth in the boys 4A team standings but had two individual champions — Quina Perkison (106 pounds) and Hayward Metcalf (138 pounds).
