The panic lasted about a minute.
That was all Flower Mound had. A brief flicker of belief, a quick strike, and junior forward Timothy Kim driving the ball into the net less than two minutes into the match. Then the Coppell soccer team steadied itself and turned the night into a runaway.
Six unanswered goals later, the Cowboys walked off Buddy Echols Field with a 6-1 victory.
“We started off a little slow,” senior midfielder Brooks Kaiser said. “We went down in the first minute, but we’ve gone down every game and we always end up winning. I guess we’re a comeback team.”
The response from Coppell was immediate.
Junior forward Emmanuel Mendez Gil managed to dribble the ball downfield and tie the match with 26:03 left in the first half, pushing momentum back to the Cowboys and setting a tone that remained the entire match.
From there, Coppell’s confidence multiplied. Sophomore defender Colin McGrath found the net to give the Cowboys a 2-1 advantage with 13:33 left in the first half, a lead they would not give up.
And in the second half, the goals came in waves.
Kaiser delivered one of the loudest moments of the season after a bicycle kick into the net to stretch the lead with 31:03 left in the game, and later added another score.
“The first goal was really special,” Kaiser said. “It gave us a comfortable lead. It was a really, really good feeling.”
Sophomore defender Tanadorn Von Merveldt joined the scoring party after netting the ball from a corner kick with 16:17 left in the match.
“I just feel good, helping my team out,” Von Merveldt said. “Our team chemistry has improved a lot. We’re communicating more instead of criticizing each other, and it’s really paying off.”
On the sidelines, the Cowboys began to connect more as well.
“We have been able to build that chemistry,” Coppell coach Stephen Morris said. “It’s taken a little longer this year, but tonight we saw what that can look like.”
Coppell’s next matchup is on Tuesday at Marcus, the district’s top-ranked team. The Cowboys currently stand in second place.
“They’re undefeated this season,” Kaiser said. “But we beat them last year twice, and I feel like we can do it again.”
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