As the first half came to a close in a scoreless tie and the wind against them, the Coppell girls soccer team experienced a dip in game play. 

However, a change in energy initiated the second half. With 30:51 left, Coppell junior forward Reneta Vargas scored the first and only goal of the match and the Cowgirls defeated Plano West, 1-0, yesterday at Buddy Echols Field. 

“Throughout the whole [match], every single player on the field was giving maximum effort and doing the extra work,” Coppell senior midfielder Maya Ozymy said. “This helped us take control of the game especially in the second half.”

Both teams fought hard after the goal was scored by Coppell, which increased the intensity. According to Ozymy, the Cowgirls played strong defense. 

“I think we did really well defending them,” Ozymy said. “We didn’t dive in and let them shoot which helped us defensively.” 

However, as the second half progressed, the play of its forwards gave Coppell the upper hand. 

“An advantage we had over Plano West was possibly our attack,” Coppell senior forward Jojo Alonzo said. “I felt like our attacking mindset was more of a threat causing them to drop all their numbers. We see it a lot against other opponents, against teams like these because they are nervous or shaky when it comes to our forwards.”  

In terms of improvement, Alonzo thinks proper communication among teammates could be beneficial. 

“We should definitely work on our communication,” Alonzo said. “At times we were miscommunicating things and were unable to apply pressure in certain areas or clear the ball. It happens to everyone but I felt like during this game we could have done a better job at it.” 

Ozymy emphasizes having a positive mentality and putting in the most effort possible. 

“We go into every single game with the mindset that we are going to win,” Ozymy said. “[Last night] every single player on the field gave maximum effort and did the extra work.” 

Follow Varshitha (@varshitha1128) and @SidekickSports on Twitter.