Burnet girls soccer wins own tourney
CAPTION: Avery Barth (12) and Kayleigh Briggs (20) leap for joy after scoring a goal as Bella Medina runs to join them. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School girls soccer team won its own Bulldog Classic thanks to winning all five of its matches Jan. 8-10.
The Lady Dawgs (5-0) beat Little River Academy 4-2 in the championship after disposing of the Salado junior varsity 4-0, Sweetwater 6-1, Killeen Ellison 9-2 and Bandera 2-0.
“When you host, you set it up towards it being favorable for you,” Burnet head coach Doug Ketcham said. “So I figured we had a good chance to get to the championship game. We held down the fort at home and with playing Little River, they were ranked No. 8 in the state, and we were able to beat them so that really, for us, solidified what we’re doing – we’re heading in the right direction.”
Before the tournament began, Ketcham changed the defensive scheme to include a sweeper.
“We have really, really good athletes,” he said. “They work so hard. (Changing schemes) was to play better defense to start with. They were in every game, so even though we gave up five goals in the tournament, we scored 25 goals. I think whenever you’re able to at least keep it to where you’re not expecting the offense to score four goals to win a game, it just relaxes you and says, ‘OK, we can go forward and do what we need to do, because we have confidence in the defense.’ And it’s not just the defense – it’s everybody on the field. The sweeper gives you the ability to make a mistake and somebody can cover for you.”
He said the victory against Ellison “was when it really clicked.”
“Because they saw that we could hold people, and that allowed us to go forward and play more freely really,” the coach said.
Scoring that many goals says a lot about the players, he added.
“The girls just had their mentality and it really clicked for us,” Ketcham said. “And they did everything that we practiced, everything we talked about. And it just came to pass and so it was pretty unexpected. We played pretty well the entire tournament.”
Avery Barth led in scoring with at least two hat tricks during the tournament. He said Barth “is probably in the best shape on the whole team.”
“She’s just focused, she’s intense,” the coach said. “She’d been playing on defense, and neither one of us liked that. I put her at the top and gave her the freedom to play center mid or forward.”
She also switches with Bella Medina.
“But I feel like we’re just a little better with Avery at our center forward spot and Bella probably has a little stronger leg,” Ketcham said. “It’s good for (Medina) to be the center mid – she can shoot from farther out. Avery’s pretty fast. So that helps us stretch the opponents vertically. That helps considerably having that great threat going for us.”
He added the tournament’s success also goes to the parents for putting on “a really good hospitality room” and to Burnet High School Principal Casey Burkhart for allowing 400 students to attend the Sweetwater match.
“It was just amazing to have that,” the coach said.
Burnet will compete in the Lady Texans Showcase hosted by Wimberley Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 15-17. The varsity plays Lorena at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Ann Richards at 1:25 p.m. Friday, and Wimberley at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. The junior varsity faces Wimberley at 4:20 p.m. Thursday, Ann Richard at 3 p.m. Friday, and Hays at 4:20 p.m. Saturday.
CAPTION: Burnet’s Erica Flores looks to control the ball and keep possession against Salado. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
