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Lady Blues, Steers soccer split in Mineral Wells

Thu, 02/23/2023 - 9:47 am
  • (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Easton Hedge defeats a defender during the first half of the Steers' 2-1 loss at Mineral Wells Monday night.  
    (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Easton Hedge defeats a defender during the first half of the Steers' 2-1 loss at Mineral Wells Monday night.
  • (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Sophia Schlieper scored two goals to lead the Lady Blues to a 2-0 win over Mineral Wells Monday at Mineral Wells High School.  
    (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Sophia Schlieper scored two goals to lead the Lady Blues to a 2-0 win over Mineral Wells Monday at Mineral Wells High School.
  • (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lady Blues defender Kinsley Amburn moves the ball upfield during the second half of the Lady Blues 2-0 win over Mineral Wells Monday evening.  
    (MIKE WILLIAMS | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lady Blues defender Kinsley Amburn moves the ball upfield during the second half of the Lady Blues 2-0 win over Mineral Wells Monday evening.
sports@grahamleader.com

The Steers and Lady Blues soccer teams completed the first half of their district schedules Monday, Feb. 20 at Mineral Wells High School. The Lady Blues bounced back from last week’s loss against Burkburnett with a 2-0 win over the Lady Rams. The Steers are still looking for their first district win of the season following a 2-1 loss to the Rams.

Sophie Schlieper found the back of the net early for the Lady Blues and the team never looked back. With the Lady Blues out-possessing and out-shooting the Lady Rams, Schlieper stole the ball 29 yards from the goal on the right side in the offensive third of the field and scored from 23 yards out into the right side of the net. 

Defensively, the Lady Blues dominated the Lady Rams, only giving up two shots. 

Schlieper nearly had her second goal of the match five minutes into the second half. Her shot from 30 yards out was parried by the Lady Rams’ goalkeeper over the crossbar. Schlieper’s brace with an assist from Katy Mills came less than four minutes later with a goal from 25 yards with 31:19 left in the match. While only scoring two goals, the Lady Blues had one of their better shooting nights of the season with 9 of 16 shots on target. The Lady Rams were held to one shot on target, in the middle portions of the second half.

Neither Taylor Lauster nor Vivian Gutierrez saw a challenge from the Lady Rams. Gutierrez entered in place of Lauster late in the second half to get time on the field. 

“I feel like we came out with much more intensity and we kept that intensity the entire game,” Lady Blues coach Misty Mills said. “I felt we played as a team and not a group of individuals tonight and when you play like that you usually come out ahead on the scoreboard.”

With the win, the Lady Blues have reached double-digit wins for the first time in program history. The 10 wins this season have already surpassed the previous program record for wins after a rough start in previous seasons.

After the first half of the district schedule, Wichita Falls High School sits on top of District 4-4A with a 4-0 record. The Lady Coyotes outscored opponents 35-1 in four games. Burkburnett is in second place at 3-1. The Lady Blues are in third with a 2-2 record and a -1 goal differential. Mineral Wells is fourth at 1-3. Hirschi is 0-4. 

The Lady Blues have back-to-back road matches to begin the second half of the district schedule. Friday, the team will travel to Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls for a 5:30 p.m. match with the Lady Coyotes. The team will return to Memorial Stadium Tuesday, Feb. 28 to play Hirschi.

Rams 2, Steers 1

After a scoreless first half, the Rams and Steers combined for three goals in a physical second half. The Steers controlled the pace of play in the first half, earning three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of the match. 

Lucio Arvizu sent a cross into the box to Easton Hedge for the Steers’ first challenge at the Rams goalkeeper. The cross just missed. Bryan Sanchez had a shot on target five minutes later. Sanchez, in the defensive third, saved a goal on a corner kick. His header of the ball with 5:12 left in the half prevented the first Rams goal of the night.

Jesus Lucio challenged the keeper with one minute left in the half on a shot from 20 yards out.

Coming out in the second half, Jace Gill had a shot on target just under three minutes into the half. Moments later, the Rams scored their first goal of the night. The Steers nearly drew even three minutes later when Yair Gonzalez connected with Lucio on a shot that went just right of the net.

The Steers’ equalizer came with 23:30 left in the match. With a foul called inside the penalty box in the Steers’ offensive third, Lucio lined up to take the penalty kick, scoring just to the left of the goalkeeper.

Seven minutes later, the Steers’ problems clearing the box in their defensive third came back to haunt them. A shot from 24 yards bounced out of the arms of goalkeeper Owen Gage. The Rams scored on the rebound to take the lead. 

“We don’t clear a ball and it bounces and we don’t watch it, then they poke it in,” Steers coach Tim Wankowicz said. “It’s just the same song, different verse. We’ve tried different defenders back in there. We’ve worked on that in practice. We have the numbers in there. A lot of times we’ll have three, four or five guys in the back. They’ll have two or three and still get to the ball first. They don’t let that happen in front of their box (...) I thought we had it figured out. In the second half against (Burkburnett) we gave up zero opportunities. We didn’t have a problem in the first half (tonight), we just had a mental breakdown.”

After four district games, the Steers sit at the bottom of District 4-4A with an 0-4 record. Wichita Falls High School and Hirschi both hold 3-1 records, with Wichita Falls holding a +4 goal differential and head-to-head tiebreaker advantages over Hirschi. Burkburnett and Mineral Wells each hold 2-2 records. Burkburnett holds the head-to-head advantage over Mineral Wells with their win over the Rams Tuesday, Feb. 14.

The Steers have back-to-back road matches to begin the second half of the district schedule. Friday, the team will travel to Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls for a 7:30 p.m. match with the Coyotes. The team will return to Memorial Stadium Tuesday, Feb. 28 to play Hirschi.