Marble Falls girls soccer ties Brownwood
CAPTION: Katie Terrell continues to be one of the top defenders for the Lady Mustangs, who earned her second player of the game honor. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School girls soccer team and Brownwood played to a 1-1 tie in non-district play Jan. 16.
The Lady Lions (6-1-1) struck first, scoring in the first 90 seconds of the match.
“We left the girl open in the box,” head coach Marisa Miller said. “We came out flat. I think (Brownwood) is probably the best offense we’ve seen this year and took us by surprise. And that’s what happens.”
Marble Falls tied the match thanks to a goal from Dulce Macias, who scored off a corner kick in the first half.
Though the Lady Mustangs weren’t happy about allowing a goal so quickly, they did hold Brownwood scoreless for at least 78 minutes, a tough task considering that the Lady Lions were riding a six-game winning streak when they arrived in Marble Falls. During that span they scored 31 goals and allowed only one.
Meanwhile, the Lady Mustangs (6-0-2) have been equally good where they have scored 33 goals and allowed only one during their six-matching winning streak.
“It’s good that we saw that,” Miller said. “I think with that level of competition, we have realized we have to be ready. We can’t get comfortable. I know that you still have to compete. You still have to play strong. We’re not dead. We have a lot of ways to go to get ready for our season. So I’m glad that they saw that.”
The Lady Lions did everything they could to play the match on the Marble Falls’ side of the 50-yard line since they had the wind at their backs in the second half. But the Lady Mustangs were up for the challenge as goalie Taylor Brydon directed the defense from her spot. The Lady Mustangs closed the shooting and passing lanes in the box to ensure another goal wasn’t scored.
“Our defense has been doing really well, goalie included,” Miller said. “Taylor had a lot of saves in the first half. She helped us out a lot. And then our defense really honed in and they got it together the second half. They’re still learning their formation back there and getting to know each other a little bit. They’re still getting to know their chemistry and different offenses, how to control a different offense, and they did a really good job after that of that in the second half.”
Meanwhile, the two or three breakaways the Lady Mustangs had on the other end, especially in the final 20 minutes of the match, were cut short as Brownwood got back to defend its goal.
Junior Katie Terrell was named the player of the game thanks to being the primary defender who moves forward to pressure the opponent in possession of the ball.
“She’s our person who steps, and so we’ve been working with her being that first person up, and so she’s just been doing a really good job of shutting that down for us,” Miller said. “We’ve been talking a lot about communicating in the back. People need to step up and cover when they need to shift in how they play back there.”
Though the outcome wasn’t what the Lady Mustangs wanted, Miller viewed it as a training opportunity and a tool to help them continue to prepare for District 26-4A.
“And super proud of them for being able to turn it around and fix it that second half,” she said. “So hopefully we learn from it.”
Marble Falls travel to play Austin KIPP Tuesday, Jan. 20, with the junior varsity playing at 1 p.m. and the varsity at 2:30 p.m. at Round Rock Complex.
CAPTION: Dulce Macias scores the only goal for the Lady Mustangs against Brownwood. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
