A good fight by Cowgirls ends in a loss to the Lady Dragons

In a tough 3-0 loss to Southlake Carroll, the Coppell Cowgirls kept their heads up and fought till the end.

As gametime approached, the weather was hovering around 70 degrees with a slight wind, a perfect environment for a classic rivalry girls soccer rivalry game between the Cowgirls of Coppell, and the Southlake Carroll Lady Dragons.

The Cowgirls were wearing their white jerseys with red accents, while the Lady Dragons were wearing all black with white numbers.

Carroll began the game with the first possession, setting a tone that would be held all game, Coppell was on the defense. A nice piece of play by senior midfielder Shay Johnson saves a would-be goal from a Lady Dragon attacker.

An attacking possession by the Cowgirls, spurred on by a long ball pass from senior centerback Maddie Dickson, is threatening but ended up petering out in the Lady Dragons box. The counter attack by Carroll, featuring a good display of ball movement, culminated in a goal with 34 minutes left in the first half.

The goal by the opponents seemed to liven up the Cowgirls who quickly pressed the ball up the field and set up senior Kate Kaiser for a long shot, but the strike ended up a few feet too high, giving the Lady Dragons a goal kick with 25 minutes left in the half.

Just two minutes later Carroll was on the attack again and the run finished with a diving save by junior goalkeeper Maddie Weber.

The following minutes would be lots of midfield play by the two teams, with many changes of possession, yet Coppell eventually went on the attack and earned a corner with 13 minutes left in the first half. Nothing came from the set piece, yet as the half came to a close the Cowgirls were noticeably gaining ground on the more aggressive Lady Dragons.

With under 10 minutes remaining in the half, both teams were awarded set pieces deep in the other’s territory yet could not put together a scoring play.  Half number one would conclude with two great saves by Weber.

At the half, the game was 1-0 in favor of Carroll.

After the game, Coppell assistant coach Michelle Noble said, “I liked the fight, they didn’t give up.”

Coppell came out fighting, but could not overcome the continuous attacks by the Lady Dragons. Only seven minutes into the final half of play Coppell went down 2-0.

Johnson was a bright spot for the Cowgirls, making multiple defensive stops during an attacking session by Carroll with 30 minutes left in the game. The Lady Dragons were given a corner opportunity yet could not capitalize, and wound up handing Coppell their first goal kick of the half with 23 minutes remaining on the scoreboard.

This kick sparked some runs down the middle of the field by the Cowgirls but did not produce any opportunities to cash in their first goal of the match.

Carroll dominated possession for another 10 minutes, ultimately granting the Lady Dragons another goal, giving them a 3-0 lead with only nine minutes left in the game.

The game ended as a 3-0 win for the district leading Lady Dragons, handing the Cowgirls their sixth loss of the season.

“Even in spite of the loss, we didn’t give in and kept battling, which in the end is the best thing we  can do,” Coppell freshman midfielder Ryley Andrews said.

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