After playing through an equally balanced first half, the Coppell girls soccer team entered the second half with more energy and intensity to test Plano. A header off a corner from Coppell senior defender Addison Martin with 27 minutes remaining in the second half, assisted by senior forward Jojo Alonzo gave the Cowgirls the lead, which they held for 14 minutes. 

Then, an intricate piece of play from Plano which involved weaving in and through the Cowgirls defense resulted in an outside-the-box shot from Plano senior forward Amanda Walsh that was picture perfect into the top left corner of senior goalie Zoe Goodale’s net. 

The remainder of the match would be played to a stalemate as the Cowgirls tied the Wildcats, 1-1, Tuesday night at Buddy Echols Field. 

“When you’re winning a hard match and they come right back at you [with a goal], it just ruins the mood and kills the motivation until the last couple of minutes where you pick it up but, then, there’s not enough time [to save the game],” Coppell junior midfielder Bailey Peek said.

The Cowgirls started out slow and on the back foot as they let Plano keep most of play in their half for a majority of the first half, with Coppell’s only real chances coming from quick-break counter attacks.   

“We came out a little flat, just not ready for the response that Plano had,” Coppell coach Rebecca Sawers said. “When we saw them a week ago, we beat them 5-1 and Plano came ready to fight and that’s exactly what they did. [The fatigue from playing four games last week] and playing on a Monday without a practice, sometimes that can change the way we come out to play.”

The Cowgirls travel to Hebron tonight with play starting at 7:30 p.m.

“Going into tomorrow’s game, we need to focus on being 100 percent ready for whatever is coming at us and just play the way we know how, transitioning to the point of attack and playing one-and-two touch soccer in order to be successful,” Sawers said.  

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