The Lady Texan soccer team clings to first place in the district race after the first round of district play; however, the race is well too close to call at this point.
“You are one loss away from scrapping for fourth place,” Soccer Coach Brinton Nute said.
With an overall record of 12-1-4 on the season, Wimberley is 4-0-2 in district play. The four wins and two ties amount to 14 total points for the team, as a win garners three points and a tie one.
One game back is Davenport and Boerne, who each have 11 points, with Canyon Lake and Fred ericksburg sitting at 10 points a piece. Only four teams make the playoffs meaning one will go home disappointed.
“It is such a difficult district,” Nute said. “We’ve had a few ties, but to only lose one game (on the season) in the caliber of district we are in is pleasing.”
On Tuesday of last week, Wimberley started slow against Bandera in a game where the Lady Texans were heavily favored. Bandera took a 1-0 lead into the half.
“It is difficult coming off those tough games to repeat the performance from the week before,” Nute said. “Understandably, we were a little sluggish, but it was nice to see how the girls responded… We are pretty high octane when we get going on the offensive side.”
High octane indeed. A little ways into the second half, Wimberley scored its first goal of the game before scoring five more times on the way to a 6-2 victory. Ella Sandoval had a hat trick with three scores. Emily Thames and Mystel Bernal each scored once.
On Friday, Wimberley faced off against Davenport in a game for the lead in district play. Davenport gave Boerne their only in-district loss this season.
Wimberley was down 1-0 at half once again before making a change.
“Stats don’t lie,” Nute said. “Everyone can see that Emily (Thames) and Ella (Sandoval) are a force to be reckoned with. Ella has scored more than 25 goals and Emily more than 30. Teams are making sure those girls are heavily marked.”
To try and avoid the extra defensive attention, Thames shifted to the right side of the field looking for more space. Within five minutes, she scored a goal from outside of the box on a 20-yard shot.
Knowing a tie versus Davenport would help shore up the standings, the Lady Texans balanced an offensive attack with a defensive priority resulting in a tie at the end of the game.
“Half of me wants to go for the victory and attack all out, but at the same time we don’t want to lose the game. So we were weary of their attacking threat,” Nute said.
Wimberley played Canyon Lake on Tuesday after the Wimberley View’s time of press. On Friday, they will be home against Great Hearts Northern Oaks at 6 p.m.
