March 31, 2010

JUSTIN, Texas -- The sun only shined on the Wichita Falls High School crowd on Tuesday evening, not the Lady Coyotes, who couldn't catch a break or succeed at playing catch-up against Midlothian.

The Lady Panthers survived an early surge by Payton Fookes and the Lady Coyotes and scored two goals in a 2:04 span to knock off WFHS, 2-1, in a Region I-4A girls soccer quarterfinal at NISD Stadium.

Midlothian (16-4-3) had lost to Rider in this very same round and stadium a year ago.

But a beautiful left-footed corner kick by Tori Adame broke the ice in the 20th minute, and a rebound shot from Kaitlin Bush soon afterward gave Lady Panther goalkeeper Lindsey Sisco enough margin for error to knock off the Lady Coyotes.

Old High scored in the 78th minute as Sierra Anderson had room for a couple of touches and blasted a 25-yarder over Sisco's head, slicing the lead in half with 2:43 to play.

But the Lady Coyotes couldn't get off another shot as Brianne Bates picked up a yellow card for contact while trying to set up a shot and the Lady Panthers knocked the ball in the stands a couple of times to kill the clock.

It was the second straight game with a goal for Anderson, a sophomore speedster who finished with seven goals this season.

The Lady Coyotes had the wind in the second half, but until the final flurry, they really had more ball possession against the wind in the first half. And a couple of balls that got away from the defense led to good Midlothian chances.

The Lady Panthers, blanked by Old High early in the season, didn't miss the chances. They used a good shield against WFHS keeper Breanna Wachsman to allow Adame's shot to curl into the net.

"I'm left-footed and I'm usually trying to get the ball to Taylor Moulton, but I've been working on bending them into the net, too," Adame said. "We were playing the same round against another team from Wichita Falls and in the same stadium. There was a lot of superstition."

Adame said she also was glad to avenge the earlier loss to the Lady Coyotes. But more importantly, it was a win her team needed to qualify for the regional tournament Friday and Saturday in Wichita Falls.

"We had a couple of good chances, and we took advantage of them with the wind at our back, and the wind is a big factor in a game like that," said Midlothian coach Austin Guest, who also coaches the boys team and had them in the I-4A quarterfinals on Tuesday night in the second half of a doubleheader.

"We kept a lot of possession in the second half and that's what we like to do," Guest added. "They're very dangerous in their attack as they showed. We were able to hold on until very late in the game.

"We're fairly organized on defense and when we had a breakdown we covered for each other. And we have a great goalkeeper."

The Lady Coyotes closed out a stellar season at 18-3-3. They were 1-1-1 against their chief rival and won two playoff games. But the looks on their faces said they were hoping for a few more matches.

"The seniors have meant so much to this program," WFHS coach Rob Woodard said. "They've said a lot, meant a lot to this program on and off the field. We had a great season, and we're ready for next year."

While Woodard would have loved to have seen his team win another ball here and there or catch a break, he loved that his team finished up on the attack, slicing the lead with one last goal and pushing for another.

"That showed the character of this team, they never quit," Woodard said. "I'm proud of the girls."

As for the match, he said the Midlothian defense setup with a sweeper took a little time to get used to. Fookes had the best of her matchup in the first half, overwhelming her defender on the sideline to set up chances. The junior forward had three shots in each half to lead all players with six.

Woodard said Macy Martinez and Amber Garcia did a good job of "winning the 50-50 balls, especially in the first half."

Unofficially, Midlothian had a 15-14 edge in shots with each team getting the better of chances with the wind.

"Midlothian is a solid team," Woodard said. "They have a goalkeeper going to Middle Tennessee State and she's solid back there. And their sweeper hung back so far that it was hard to get past her."

The WFHS seniors playing their final game were Wachsman, Bates, Courtney Cox and Kaitlin Foran. The Lady Coyotes won 73 games over the past four seasons.

Foran finished the season with 17 goals, tying Fookes for the team lead, and closed out her career with 64 goals.