Heads fell along the Coppell sideline as arms flew in the air across the field in the last minutes of the girls soccer match last night. With three minutes remaining, the Marauders broke the tie to win, 3-2.

This is the Cowgirls’ first loss of the season, bringing their District 6-6A record to 2-1-1 and their overall record to 8-1-1. While this might affect Coppell’s standing in district moving forward, it serves as a wake-up call to work harder.

“We didn’t work hard enough in the first half,” Coppell coach Ryan Dunlevy said. “We came out in the second half and responded in the right way. They went and they earned it. We have to learn to put 80 minutes together like that if we want to continue to be successful.”

Coppell found itself in a 2-0 deficit in the first half. Marcus was aggressive in its offense and often kept the ball on the Cowgirls’ end of the field. However, Coppell took the offensive in the second half.

Part of this came because of the urgency that went into its gameplay. Being down two goals, the Cowgirls were determined to come back. So, they sped up the pace of the game. With this came a goal by sophomore defender Michelle Pak with 34 minutes left.

Then, as the Cowgirls continued to frantically try to score, they maintained their aggressive strategy. Coppell would take the ball up the outside and cross it into the middle for a shot on goal. Using this tactic, senior forward Haley Roberson was able to drill the equalizer into the back of the net with seven minutes remaining. After a cross came from the right side, Roberson was open in the middle and was able to send the ball in, untouched, from 10 yards out.

For about five minutes, Coppell was able to go back to its usual playstyle. However, with three minutes left, Marcus sophomore midfielder Ella Lockley tapped the ball in after a long pass from senior forward Sarah Wilson. This put the Marauders up by one and the Cowgirls were never able to come back.

“How this affects the rest of the season is up to [the team],” Dunlevy said. “This is a make or break moment for them. They have to respond to adversity. My hope is they show up tomorrow ready to work, ready to improve for Friday.”

The Cowgirls play away at Irving on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for their next district match.

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