By Alex Nicoll
Editor-in-Chief
@NicollMac
Days after being announced the new No. 1 ranked girls soccer team in the nation, the Coppell Cowgirls took one step closer to clinching the District 7-6A title Tuesday defeating the Richland Lady Rebels 6-0 at Buddy Echols Field.
Coppell controlled the ball for the majority of the game but missed many opportunities to score. The team outshot Richland 27-4 on the night but only converted on six of those attempts.
The last time these two teams faced off, Coppell started slow taking a scoreless tie going into the first half. Coppell coach Chris Stricker wanted to avoid the same start so to do that he had to get his key players on board, including freshman forward Tyler Runnels.
“I was a little slow in the beginning but I noticed that we needed to score so I started to move around more to get more energy and once I scored the first goal I could tell everyone also started to get more energy. As the game went on I thought I did very well in keeping possession and making runs off the ball,” Runnels said.
Runnels finished the night with two goals, including the opening goal at the 24:45 minute mark. Seven minutes later, senior defender Grace Vowell scored off an assist from freshman forward Mackenzie McFarland.
Neither team scored the rest of the half, despite multiple chances by the Cowgirls, until senior forward Tara Vishnesky found the back of the net off a cross pass from sophomore defender Erian Brown with a minute left in the first half.
“The subs actually did a good job, created chances and scored two more goals,” Stricker said.
The team responded to Stricker’s challenge, scoring two minutes into the second half off a shot by Runnels.
“When she turned it on, she is such a game-changer,” Stricker said.
The game became a bit stagnant after this with Richland blocking every shot the Cowgirls attempted. The Cowgirls also could not convert on any of the three free kicks they had during this span, but McFarland ended the drought at the 12:36 mark by tapping it in on a one-on-one with the Richland keeper.
Coppell’s last goal came from senior midfielder Rachel Koury on an assist by Vishnesky.
In an overmatched game, it is difficult to motivate a team which could cause them to play to the level of their opponent.
“It’s hard to motivate these guys when they know they’re most likely going to win,” Stricker said. “I talked to them before the game about being self-motivated and making goals for themselves. I do not think that everything in the first half was bad but some people were putting energy in and others were taking time off so we weren’t playing as a team.’
It is up to individuals, such as Runnels, to get the team going by leading by example.
“Sometimes when we play teams that aren’t at the same level as us we tend to drop our level and play at theirs so I try to make a difference in the playing so my teammates can see me and then they could start doing the same and also just saying encouraging things always helps,” Runnels said.