DALLAS – With three and a half minutes remaining in overtime, screams of excitement and encouragement are heard from the crowd as Coppell junior forward Neerali Kapadia pushes past Lake Highlands towards the goal.
Despite an initial deflection, she scored.
The Coppell girls soccer team defeated the Wildcats, 2-1, in overtime on Tuesday at Highlander Stadium in the Class 6A Division I regional quarterfinals.
Coppell advances to play Keller on Friday at Dragon Stadium in Southlake in the regional semifinals.
“I’m just so proud of the girls and so proud of the way they battled,” Coppell coach Craig Able said.
Although the match was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., play only began at around 9:45 due to thunderstorms and lightning concerns. According to UIL rules, if lightning strikes within a 10-mile radius of the game site the teams must wait 30 minutes prior to beginning the game. As such, the match concluded past midnight.
Kapadia scored both goals for Coppell, solidifying the Cowgirls’ victory.
“Neerali had a fantastic game, created so many chances for us, and just worked her butt off to create so many opportunities,” Able said.
Overall, players felt proud of their performance in the match.
“I feel like we didn’t give up on eachother,” senior midfielder Summer Chen said. “We really fought and played well, we trusted our training and each other and it really showed.”
Roughly 10 minutes into the first half, Lake Highlands sophomore Kacy Corcoran scored the first goal of the game. The Cowgirls clapped back soon enough, with Kapadia scoring halfway through the first half and tying the game.
The match went into overtime after a scoreless second half, with the teams remaining tied at a score of 1-1.
Players think the playoff environment contributed to their success.
“The playoff environment just made it crazy,” Kapadia said. “It was a lot of emotions. These are our last few weeks with our seniors, and we all want to keep playing with them, soak in every moment and keep going for each other.”
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