By Alex Nicoll

Staff Writer

In a showdown between two of the state’s top three ranked teams, Coppell tied Flower Mound Marcus, 1-1, Friday night.

“It is frustrating,” Coppell coach Chad Rakestraw said. “We played really well, we controlled for most of the games and had some chances. We just did not finish some of the opportunities we had and [Marcus] did on the opportunity they got from the set piece, which they are really good at. We knew that coming in and knew that it was a threat. We just need to do a better job to win the one-on-one battle.”

The match started off strong offensively for the Cowboys, who possessed the ball for the majority of the first half. Coppell was also able to keep the ball on the Marauders side of the 50 yard line.

Coppell had four shots on the goal before senior midfielder Chris Madden was finally able to punch in a goal with 10:03 left in the first half.

“[Madden] brings creativity and deception,” Rakestraw said. “He is able to make guys dive and make really good attacking runs in the final third.”

The Cowboys almost had another goal but were called off-sides making it invalid.

Marcus responded late in the quiet second half, scoring with 8:59 left in the match. Neither team was able to generate any offense the rest of the game.

Both teams fought physically in the game, evident by the numerous fouls called in the game and a Marcus athlete getting called with a yellow card with 13:12 left in the first half. This set up junior defender Griffin Jaksa with the only penalty shot on the night.

“Both teams are pretty hyped to play this game,” Madden said. “[Marcus] was especially ready to play after last time we got one at their place. A lot of that game attributed to the chippiness.”

With district play wrapping up, Coppell needs to only beat their next opponent, the last place Denton Ryan Red Raiders, to claim the district title.

“We are going to prepare like any other game,” Madden said. “We are going to try and get one there to end the season.”