Burnet girls soccer beats Eastside
CAPTION: Bella Medina is a huge offensive threat and ensures she either scores or helps a teammate find the back of the net. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School girls soccer team defeated Austin Eastside Memorial 4-1 Feb. 2 in District 25-4A play.
The Lady Dawgs took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals by Brook Oliva with an assist from Bella Medina. Then Olivia and Medina each scored thanks to assists from Lillian Barnard.
Head coach Doug Ketcham was happy to earn another win to move the Lady Dawgs (10-4) to 4-1 in district play. At the same time, he pointed out the goal total could have been more.
“It was frustrating,” he said. “I felt like we didn’t play very well. And part of that is Eastside is pretty good. They have some players, they’re well-organized. But the other part is we just didn’t play very well.”
The Lady Dawgs had 26 shots but only scored four goals.
“We didn’t finish them,” the coach said. “So that’s one problem. That’s not a very good percentage there. And then we did not possess well at all. It just became basically kickball, which in some instances is OK. But for the most part, that’s not what we’re looking to do.”
When coaches say their team is playing kickball, what they mean is players are not moving the ball up the field strategically in order to score a goal. Instead, they are content with kicking the ball around.
“It’s just disorganized,” Ketcham said. “It’s not effective in most cases. It looks like you go in without a plan basically. And obviously that’s not what we practice. Sometimes that’s a result of the team you’re playing. A lot of times that’s what it is – you’re just not playing very smart.”
While he acknowledged that the Lady Dawgs went into this match without a practice after the 6-1 win against Florence Jan. 30, Ketcham pointed out that he believes other district members will face the same scenario.
“We had three games in five days, but they had two days to recover, and we’re far enough along in the season that we should be able to do what we need to do to win,” he said. “And do it the way we’ve been practicing. That said, we did win 4-1. So like I tell them – a sign of a good team is one that doesn’t play well but still gets the victory.”
The Lady Dawgs welcomesAustin Achieve Friday, Feb. 6, with the junior varsity playing at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m.
