By Joseph Krum
Staff Writer
@joseph_krum
When the final seconds on the clock for the Cowgirl soccer game ran off against Colleyville Heritage, the scoreboard read 5-1 in Coppell’s favor. Eight seniors took the field for the last time at Buddy Echols Field and left with a win.
Throughout the first half, the Cowgirls kept the ball mostly on their own side of the field, missing a few shots but with lots of attempts on Collleyville’s goal. Colleyville never had a breakaway, much less a decent shot that could have led to a goal.
The second half of the game was much of the same, with the only Colleyville goal coming from a backwards circus shot from a desperate Colleyville player. Seniors Tara Vishnesky and Sarah King both scored off of crosses, while junior Emma Jett, sophomore Tori Teffeteller and freshmen Tyler Runnels also cashed in for Coppell.
“The girls have really been working hard to prepare for this game and for the playoffs,” soccer coach Chris Stricker said. “We know what’s out there and so their hard work in practice is paying off. We overwhelmed Colleyville who’s a pretty good team, and you could see the little things that we’ve been working on show up during the games, which is really fun to see as a coach. Also, our team chemistry is solid. The seniors who started this game worked really hard, and that’s why we dominated this game; the seniors always work hard and the younger players respect them.”
Stricker congratulated the eight seniors before the game with a video playing from the scoreboard, which also played short clips of all the seniors telling about their favorite Coppell soccer moments. One of those seniors, Rachel Johnson, felt like the win for the Cowgirls was good for the team.
“It was a great feeling,” Johnson said. “It was relieving to get one last win at home. As a senior, it was good to finish strong.”
Colleyville, who will most likely end up in third place in District 7-6A, did not put up much of a fight against the Cowgirls, but they did score the second goal against the Cowgirls in all the district games they have played.
Stricker thinks that there’s lots to learn from the past couple of games including this one so that the Cowgirls can carry momentum into the playoffs.
“What we have been learning from the past few games is really to focus on the beginning,” Stricker said. “We were labeled as a second-half team early in the year, and that really bugged me since I like to start fast. I tell the girls a lot how great it would be to go into half up by three and then in the second half just put the frosting on the cake and have hardly any pressure. In the playoffs when you get deeper and deeper, if you don’t start fast you could give up a goal early and then that could be it. We always try work hard in all the practices and games, then we should be fine.”
