Returning from halftime, the Coppell boys soccer team and Flower Mound are both tied at 2. Two minutes and 10 seconds into the second half, Flower Mound senior forward Landon deLeeuw scores one-on-one with Coppell senior goalkeeper Jacob Campbell and establishes a lead for the rest of the night.
On March 8, Flower Mound defeated Coppell, 3-2, at Buddy Echols Field. The Jaguars have won both meetings with the Cowboys this season.
Throughout the match, the Cowboys struggled to win balls in the air against Flower Mound.
“When the ball is in the air, you have to have the willpower,” Coppell coach Stephen Morris said. “It’s just keeping your mentality in the game. We won some balls in the air but not in the most important place. Even when we were putting balls in the box, it was three white jerseys against one red–they wanted it and they punished us for it.”
Flower Mound senior defender Carter Simpson scored the first goal of the match five minutes in off a corner kick and established an early lead for the Jaguars. Coppell junior midfielder Caden Naef scored, tying the game 1-1 with 19 minutes remaining in the first half.
DeLeeuw scored his first goal, a bicycle kick, three minutes later off a Flower Mound throw-in. Coppell responded five minutes later with a goal from Coppell junior forward Luis Mendez, tying the game at 2-2 at the end of the first half.
At halftime, Morris advised the Cowboys to continue playing the ball on the ground, rather than attempting to win it in the air.
“When we have the ball and keep it on the floor, we outplay that team,” Morris said. “When we pass we get down the field and create moments. As soon as the ball leaves the deck and goes into the air, we’ve lost.”
Entering the match, Coppell and Hebron were tied for second place in District 6-6A. After the loss against Flower Mound, Coppell now sits at third and Hebron at second since the Hawks earned more district points after defeating Plano West.
Coppell plays Plano tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., its final match of the regular season. Heading into the match, the Cowboys look to begin preparing for playoffs.
“Once you hit playoffs, all bets are off and there are no guarantees,” Morris said. “Tonight there is a guarantee that we play Plano but from there, once you lose you go home. So we have to rest up, finetune the skills and play like it’s our last game.”
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