With a practiced ease, Coppell senior forward Annemarie Oilepo scores within a minute of the first half, propelling the Cowgirls into their seamless 12-0 victory against Denton Braswell on Tuesday at Buddy Echols Field. 

The match ended 20 minutes early because of the new mercy rule.

“We made sure to come out really strong,” senior defender Monica Morales said. “It was really important to get our goal momentum rolling with the first three points and take our shots in the moments where they came.”

Indeed, all of the goals in the first half were scored within ten minutes of one another, and, apt to a Senior Night match, all of the scorers in the first half were, in fact, seniors. The smooth transitions and ball movement led to a decisive majority for the Cowgirls, with the first half ending 7-0.

“Our team chemistry at practice on Monday was really good, and I feel like that showed on the field,” senior midfielder Summer Chen said. “We knew it was our senior night and we were confident that our seniors could show out and do the job.”

In addition to being Senior Night, this match honored senior goalkeeper Veronika Orzolek and late player Grace Chen.

Grace Chen died in August, as she would have been a senior this year.

“[This game was about] about playing for each other and playing for Grace,” said Summer Chen, who is unrelated to Grace. 

For Orzolek, this game was her 100th varsity starting match, and celebrated her having more than 200 saves and 50 shutouts in her career.

“I’m so proud of Veronika to be able to stay healthy and consistently play at a level that deserves a varsity starting spot for four years,” Able said. “She’s been a steady presence for four years and we are really blessed to have her.”

This match had few goal attempts from Braswell, with senior forward Paige Slater along with senior defenders Monica Morales and Jordan Clig using a weaving strategy to keep the ball in their possession.

“We were all good offensively and ball pressing,” Morales said. “We made sure that we were tuning up and doing our best to look for those openings.”

Coppell’s next match against Flower Mound this Friday will be a bit more difficult.

“Friday is a really big game and will be really crucial going into our district standings,” Morales said. “We are looking forward to the game and hoping to do the same thing we did today.”

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