Wimberley High School’s Lady Texan soccer (2-0-1 district) has been plagued over the years with one certain fact: they play in a tough district in one of the toughest 4A regions in the state. Thankfully, the team has never accepted that as an excuse but seem to use it as an opportunity to play good teams in preparation for the playoffs.
There are the outliers in the district. The Bandera High School Bulldogs produce an outstanding and highly ranked cross country team. Soccer? Not so much. Yet, no team can be taken for granted.
Head coach Eric Nichols consistently reminds his team that getting off to a fast start is imperative.
“When we play focused and are concentrating on clean passes with multiple touches on the pitch, we’re very good,” he said. “When we’re lackadaisical and inattentive to the details, we can allow teams to hang around in games we should win easily.”
The first half of last week’s game in Bandera (0-2 district) on Tuesday, Feb. 7 was an example of the latter. The Lady Texans started slow and failed to connect on their passes. The team lacked intensity and squandered early opportunities, scoring a single goal in the first half. Nichols’ team took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
“We had a ‘conversation’ at the half,” Nichols said, adding a wink and a smile. “We were missing two starters and needed the best from every player on the field.”
The Lady Texans responded immediately, opening the second half by pouring in five goals in the first several minutes. The stat line was impressive with six players scoring goals and four with assists. Hailey Lopez found the back of the net once, and Maggie Leonard had a goal and an assist. Three Lady Texans scored two goals each — Natalie Figueroa, Ella Sandoval and Emily Thames — with both Figueroa and Sandoval adding an assist each. Thames dished out three assists in the contest. Claire Valentine and Bailey Taylor combined in goal for the 9-0 shutout victory.
Friday, Feb. 10 saw nemesis and fourthranked Boerne (3-0 district) come to play at Texan Stadium. The team started slow again, giving up two early goals to go down 2-0. The Lady Texans continue to be hampered by nagging injuries with two starters playing injured. Though not fully healthy, they contributed, and the team did a great job of stepping up. Emily Thames was taken down in the box, and Izzy Franchione scored on the penalty kick at the 33 mark to draw within one, 2-1. A few minutes before halftime, Natalie Figueroa had a direct kick on goal that the Boerne keeper blocked. Emily Thames took the ball off the rebound and put it into the back of the net to tie 2-2 at the half.
The second half was filled with aggressive defensive play by Sydney Hendon, Figueora, Leonard and Lopez.
“They did a great job of keeping the Boerne attack down during the 2nd half,” Nichols explained. “Claire (Valentine) did a great job in goal. Unfortunately, we were called for an indirect kick outside the box. They ended up scoring off a rebound inside the box with about 8 minutes left to play.”
The Lady Texans put up a good fight, scrambling to score late in the match.
“We continued to fight until the end and even hit the crossbar later to tie it up,” Nichols reflected. “We are still building up to where we need to be. I don’t feel we’ve played a complete game yet, but the Boerne game proved we have what it takes to compete. The heart, determination and work ethic is there.”
“Once we compete for 80 mins, we’ll be on the right path,” he added.
The Lady Texans played Great Heart Northern Oaks on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at home and have a bye on Friday, Feb. 17 before beginning the second half of their district schedule. They take the short hop to Canyon Lake High School next Tuesday, Feb. 21 to play the Hawks at 6 p.m. before returning home for a Friday, Feb. 24 match with Fredericksburg High School’s Billies at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, Texan Soccer (1-2 district) faced Bandera (0-2 district) at home last Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Texans gave up a single goal to Bandera in the first half while collecting two to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. The gentlemen are still developing in their back line play but fared well in the second half, shutting out the Bulldogs while posting two more goals to end the game with a 4-1 win.
The young men traveled to Boerne on Friday, Feb. 10 to play a strong Greyhound team sitting atop the district standings and ranked sixth in 4A.
Boerne’s high-powered offense went straight at the Texans to produce four goals in the first half while restricting the Texan offense from penetrating deep into the Greyhound end of the field. Boerne’s defense held the Texans scoreless in the match while posting two more goals to close the contest with a 6-0 win.
Nevertheless, Coach Ramez Antoun stated pride in his team’s effort throughout the game. Antoun and assistant coach Brian Owens will review video to discover areas of improvement as the team gets stronger closing out the first half of district play.
The Texans played Great Heart Northern Oaks Tuesday, Feb. 14 at home and are off with a bye this Friday, Feb. 17. Next Tuesday, Feb. 21 begins round two of district as the gentlemen defend home turf against a visiting Canyon Lake High School Hawks squad at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 the Texans travel to Fredericksburg High School in an attempt to avenge a loss in their earlier district matchup.
