Steers face stiff challenge at Palestine tournament
-
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Jace Gill moves the ball up the field looking for an opportunity to score during one of Graham’s games earlier this season. The Steers went 1-3 at a tournament in Palestine last weekend against some highly difficult competition. Gill scored two goals for the team over the course of the tournament run.
Before the weather really took a turn for the worst this past weekend, the Steers soccer team played a few games at a tournament in Palestine.
Graham faced some stiff challenges in all four of their games and came home with a 1-3 record. The Steers dealt with injuries and illnesses throughout the week and it made facing tough teams that much tougher.
Through four games over the course of three days, there were times when the team had few to no subs available due to players being out. Through all this, the Steers played two ranked teams while the other two weren’t much easier.
On Thursday, the Steers kicked things off against the No. 10 ranked Kilgore Bulldogs. The Bulldogs dominated early and took a 6-0 win over the Steers on day one.
Through two games on Friday, the Steers’ offense struggled to get anything going. In the first game on Friday, the Steers matched up with the Lindale Eagles and lost 4-0. Without much offense, the defense did better than the day before but couldn’t keep it close.
In the second game on Friday evening, Graham met up with an even higher ranked team in the tournament host Palestine Wildcats. The Steers’ offense broke through for its first goal of the tournament on a shot by sophomore Jace Gill. But that was everything they got as the No. 3 ranked Wildcats ran away with the win 9-1.
As the tournament wrapped up Saturday, Graham took on the Athens Hornets. The Steers salvaged a win as they tied with the Hornets 2-2 in regulation thanks to goals from Gill and junior Easton Hedge. In an exciting finish, the Steers took the win after beating Athens 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout.
“We did learn a lot, kids played in places they may not have been used to, and several kids that don’t normally get a lot of playing time got to play a lot,” head coach Tim Wankowicz said. “...It sure was difficult and our kids stepped up the best they could. I was really proud of them and never once did they back down; they just kept forging ahead.”
With the weather hopefully returning to a more reasonable temperature this weekend, the Steers will compete Friday and Saturday Jan. 19-20 at the Coyote Classic tournament which will be held in Wichita Falls.
