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Sluggish second half: Lionettes fall to Lady Wolves on the road
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
PLANO -- Despite a strong first-half showing, the McKinney girls soccer team lost, 2-0, to rival Plano West Friday night from Clark East Field.
The Lady Wolves scored both of their goals in the final 25 minutes.
"We ran the whole game and worked hard," said Alex Pantarotto, McKinney head coach. "I was just a little disappointed that we didn't connect on more passes, but those are things that we'll work on. Some games we're successful with it and some games we're not."
"This is the best team in the state," Pantarotto said. "There's a reason they're undefeated. They're taller and they're stronger. They're loaded. It's very difficult to compete at this level of 5A."
The Lady Wolves sweep the season series as West had previously beaten McKinney, 1-0, on Feb. 19.
"It was a great win for us," said Carley Phillips, West head coach. "This week was a big test for us. We only had a 1-0 win against them last time we played, so we knew it was going to be tough. It's an awesome feeling to be undefeated, but we need to keep our focus more on what's ahead."
The Lady Wolves wasted no time with an aggressive attack, forcing Lionettes junior goalkeeper Madelynn Schober to block a diving shot on goal a minute into the match.
McKinney got close seven minutes later on a free kick from sophomore Lauren Neely, but the shot was stopped by West senior goalkeeper Claire Wheatley.
The Lady Wolves grew more aggressive midway into the first half, as Schober had to defend several shots on goal in under a minute, include saving a laser shot from junior Tori Gates and seconds later a shot from senior Sparky Fischer.
Even though the Lady Wolves couldn't get on the board early, they prevented the Lionettes from controlling the ball, keeping the majority of the action on McKinney's side of the pitch.
Sophomore Nicole Smith later sent a soaring shot that was deflected over the net by a leaping Schober, keeping the game scoreless. The score would remain, 0-0, heading into the second half.
"We were very organized in the first half," Pantarotto said. "We had a lot more energy and we didn't make any foolish mistakes."
The Lady Wolves were just as aggressive out of the gate in the second, yet Schober again kept them off the board, blocking two shots on goal within the first minute.
"For somebody who two years ago was a field player and now she's a goalkeeper, she's helped us out tremendously," Pantarotto said. "I'm so glad that she's playing for us."
The Lady Wolves finally broke through when Smith capitalized on a corner kick from senior Casie Ramsier in the 54th minute for the 1-0 lead.
"Nicole made a good connection," Phillips said. "That might have been our tenth corner kick of the night and I said on the bench that one of them had to go in."
West struck again in the 61st minute on a header by Gates, with an assist by junior Jalynn Barron. It would prove to be the capper on the night.
"In the second half we started getting tired," Pantarotto said. "And we don't have that many subs who can come in for three or four players without losing any level of skill. We can't do that. We call it a short blanket. You cover yourself one way and you're exposed on the other, so then you move it to there, but then you don't have anything on the other side."
There won't be any soccer games next week as the 10-5A schools are on Spring Break. The Lady Wolves return to action Tuesday against Plano Senior at 7:30 p.m. while the Lionettes host Allen at 7:15 p.m. in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
"We're still in the hunt," Pantarotto said. "We still have a very good chance of making the playoffs and that will give us the opportunity to play other teams that aren't in this district. This district is a killer. To make the playoffs from this district, you'd have to be happy."
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