By George Fairchild
Staff Writer
Coming off of a big win against Marcus last Friday, the Coppell Cowboys (11-1-1) soccer team enjoyed a comfortable 8-0 victory over Denton Ryan (4-6-1) on Tuesday at Buddy Echols Field.
“We played well last night.” senior midfielder Jack Burns said. “Games like last night are important because it helps team chemistry and helps boost our confidence.”
The Cowboys took control early on when senior midfielder Justin Todd, junior forward Colton Clark and senior forward Chris Madden all scored to make it 3-0 inside 5 minutes.
Madden, who was named player of the game, quickly added another goal when Todd took the ball to the goal line before cutting it back to Madden allowing him to hit a powerful left-footed strike into the top corner.
“We worked on finishing in practice, and we had a light week just to get our legs back from the Marcus game which really helps,” Madden said.
Twenty seconds later, Todd was on the score sheet again when junior forward Roberto Arguello played a through ball past the Raiders defense releasing Todd who kept his composure and placed the ball in the bottom right corner.
“We started off well,” Coppell coach Chad Rakestraw said. “To be up 5-0 in the first 12 minutes of the game is always good for mentality.”
Arguello almost got a goal for himself with a good finish before it was called back for being offside.
Madden then proceeded to secure his hat trick with a well struck free kick into the top corner from 25 yards out.
Senior midfielder Mitchell Apple finished the scoring for the first half with a header after senior midfielder Collin McAden delivered a good cross to the back post.
At halftime, the Cowboys were seven goals up meaning that the substitutes got to play.
“We got some guys in but we kept the same formation,” Madden said. “We tried to maintain the level and move the ball well and get people involved.
The second half was not as impressive as the first, as it took into the 67th minute before the Cowboys found their final goal. Junior midfielder Stephen Tower converted a low cross from sophomore forward Zen Cardona.
“The guys did really well with their finishing.” Rakestraw said. “They hadn’t really had that many goals scored on them this season so it was good to see that kind of performance.”
