BEDFORD— The Cowgirls emerged victorious in the Class 6A Region I area playoffs against South Grand Prairie, 5-2, on Tuesday at Pennington Field. Coppell advances to play Mansfield Lake Ridge on Friday at 7 p.m. in the regional semifinals at Buddy Echols Field.
Coppell senior forward Neerali Kapadia gains possession near midfield and is met by three South Grand Prairie defenders, scoring six minutes into the match, sinking into the left side of the goal.
From then on, a quick pace was set. Kapadia struck again but South Grand Prairie sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Garza reached at the last second to keep the score 1-0.
Coppell senior goalkeeper Kelsey Clark kept a strong hold at the net, saving back-to-back shots. South Grand Prairie took a shot inside the box, where Clark moved quickly and tried to pass to her teammate, but the Warriors gained possession and struck again, with no success with Kelsey’s quick coordination and recovery.
Garza blocked attempted shots from the Cowgirls, tight shots as Garza leaned forward to secure the save, and a deep sink into the net just close enough from arms-length reach to break the next potential goal.
With 20 minutes left in the first half, Coppell junior midfielder Logan Kutchins assisted from a corner kick to Coppell junior forward Emeliene Holder making a corner goal just around the goalkeeper, giving the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead in the first half.
The Warriors took shots, but failed to convert into points. Kapadia, however, dribbled down the field, being closed in by the Warriors, found a gap between the goalie and opponents, she leaned and gave the Cowgirls a 3-0 lead.
South Grand Prairie finishes the season 21-3-1.
“We just knew we had to believe in ourselves and what we can do and our abilities,” Coppell coach Craig Able said.
South Grand Prairie sophomore Blake Folse scored a goal with 18 minutes remaining, cutting the Cowgirls 3-1 lead.
Six minutes later, Kapadia scored again from close range to push Coppell’s lead to 4-1 with 12 minutes remaining.
Coppell freshman Lainey Wells assists off a free kick, giving Coppell sophomore Addison Hamm a chance to score from a heading, resulting in a lead 5-1.
Folse scored the last goal of the match with two minutes remaining.
During the bi-district playoff game against Allen, physicality was an adjustment.
“We really struggled a little bit physically against Allen, but tonight we did a better job with the physicality,” Able said.
According to Able, the Cowgirls worked on transitions, giving them advantages to take possession during the match and convert them into tight shots.
“We practice doing a lot of transition moments like 2v1s, 2v2s offensively and defensively, and I thought we did a good job tonight in both, taking advantage and limiting those chances for them,” Able said.
Trends have Coppell capitalizing on free kicks and corner kicks.
“Getting a corner goal, getting a free kick goal is big because that’s not something we’ve done as well as we’d like to this year,” Able said. “Which is something we did really well last year in the playoffs, we’d love to get back to that, there were some really nice defensive moments.”
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