The Lady Vikings Soccer Program will host the 14th Annual Alumni Soccer Day on Saturday, January 2nd at 3:00pm. The men's alumni match kicks off at 1:00pm.
LVS past, current, and future are always in attendance the first Saturday of each year.
The Lady Vikings JV and Varsity teams will play in 2 scrimmages that morning against Southlake Carroll and Grapevine High School at 10am and 11am. These friendlies will last for one half and then the teams switch opponents and play a second half.
Following the friendlies the Lady Vikings will return home to play the Alumni game. Head coach, Jay Fitzgerald said, "This is always the highlight of my year as we get to see the LVS Alumni that have given so much of themselves to our program and have helped grow it into the successfully recognized program that it is."
After the game, Abby Wambach stood with her teammates and watched a tribute video and addressed the crowd.
"I love this team, this country, and it has been my pleasure and my honor to represent you all, the fans, for as long as I’ve been able to," she said. "The reality is, I think symbolically, the way that this game went, I’m walking away, but the future is so bright.
These women are going to kill it, I know it. Before I get to emotional, I want to express how important it is to give all of yourself to whatever it is you do."
With that, she dropped the mic.
Wambach's final U.S. numbers:
-- 255 appearances (5th all-time);
-- 184 goals (1st all-time);
-- 73 assists (3rd all-time).
Wambach's championships:
1998: Florida (NCAA Division I)
2003: Washington Freedom (WUSA)
2004: USA (Olympics)
2012: USA (Olympics)
2015: USA (Women's World Cup)
Retiring U.S. national team star Abby Wambach talked to Bill Simmons about inequalities in sports.
"Ever since I announced my retirement," Wambach said, "I have been able to have cool conversations and pick people's brains to figure out why there is such a disparity not just in my sport but in other sports and other industries. There is there innate thing that women are less than that women don't deserve to be treated fairly.
"I think that our society is pushing toward a place where we really start to look to each other as people and not put each other in these boxes. This equality thing is in all. I feel the men get paid way more than the women in soccer, yeah, I understand logically the argument about the ratings and that is more global. But that doesn't mean that it makes it right. Equality isn't something that actually costs anything. I know we are talking about gender pay gap differences. But to treat someone fairly doesn't cost a single cent. It wouldn't cost anything it would be just a decision. When you are in it you don't want to fight too much against it because you want to be thankful for what you are getting."
The Lady Vikings Soccer Program gets 2 wins on the evening starting with 2-1 JV win with a goal by Koryn Brookshire and the game-winner by Lauren Bettinger. The win tonight moves the Lady Vikings to 2-1-1 overall on the season.
The JV will be in action next against Grapevine and Southlake Carroll on January 2nd at Dragon Stadium in Southlake for a couple friendly matches to get the year started.
The varsity team rebounded from a loss earlier in the week by topping Hockaday by a score of 3-0.
The first half ended in a scoreless battle between the 2 teams until the Lady Vikings came on strong in the second half.
Mikaela Gamboa started off the scoring in the 46th minute of play. A well timed pass in behind from Hannah Allred put Gamboa in front of the 18, only to knock it around the goalkeeper giving her a simple tap in for the evenings first goal. That turned out to be the only goal the Lady Vikings would need. Head coach, Jay Fitzgerald said, "We got much sharper as the game went on and scoring early in the second half was key."
Meghan Kittleson scored her first goal of the year of a cross from Gamboa less then 10 minutes later and that was a lead that the Lady Vikings would not surrender. Instead, Regan Hafer added the third and final goal of the match just 3 minutes after that. Kate Kleiser collected a mis-cleared ball for the assist.
Sophomore, goalkeeper, Sarah Becan came up with some much needed saves in the first half of play and cleaned up the box in the second half to preserve the shutout moving the Lady Vikings to 6-2-0 on the season.
"Hockaday is a solid team and I am happy about the result especially going into final exams next week... much easier to study when you are coming off a win," commented Fitzgerald.
The 2016 National Elite Prep Showcase (formerly the Nolan Showcase) hosted by Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer and Southlake Carroll has released the schedule for next months national event.
This years field of 34 teams pits the top teams from California, Florida, and of course, Texas. Ten of the Top 25 teams in the country will be playing January 7-9 in the first event of the 2016 high school season. Four of those teams are in the Top 10 including the #1 team in the country and NEPS co-host, Southlake Carroll.
So in total, 15 of the nations top teams will be at NEPS in January and a slue of other top teams will show off their talent to college coaches and fans from all over.
NEPS is a true college showcase event where college coaches love to watch their future commits play against older and younger players, in different styles, different roles, against their club teammates, and with future teammates.
The Lady Vikings return home tonight to host Ursuline, after a five match road swing. The JV kicked off the evening and didn't disappoint. The game was end to end the entire 1st half and it wasn't until the 2nd half when Emma Hernandez scored off an assist from Koryn Brookshire for put Nolan ahead.
The game continued to go back and forth with both teams take chances and late in the game, the Lady Bears were able to equalize and the game ended 1-1 moving the Lady Vikings to 1-1-1 on the season.
The varsity game followed in front of an exciting crowd and the game didn't necessarily go the way the Lady Vikings wanted. The end to end action continued just where the JV game left off with Nolan firing off some shots with a couple just getting deflected and the Ursuline goalkeeper, Leah Archer, coming up big on a couple keeping the Lady Vikings off the board.
LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald said, "We started very strong and if our recognition was a bit better this game could have had a different beginning."
Ursuline took control of the match scoring in the 11th minute and added 2 more unanswered goals to take a 3-0 halftime lead.
The Lady Bears added a couple more goals in the second half before Katee Kimmey scored off a nice serve from Mikaela Gamboa but tonight Ursuline was able to get the result and move to 6-0 on the season.
Fitzgerald continued, "We started strong and we finished strong but Ursuline was too dangerous tonight in the wide areas of the field and they took advantage. But I have to hand it to our group, they fought the uphill battle through the final whistle."
The Lady Vikings return to Doskocil Stadium to take on Hockaday on Thursday night at 5:00pm and 7:00pm.
The Lady Vikings Soccer team had a busy week on the field and in
the community.. they moved to 5-1-0 on the season as they split district games
with a tough loss to Bishop Lynch on Monday 2-0 with varsity and 2-1 with JV
but rebounded well on Wednesday with a 5-1 win over TCA on goals by Emily
Keoughan, Hannah Allred, and a hat trick by Megan Bettinger.
They then went out into the community to Lakewood Village
Retirement Center on Friday to play BINGO with the residents. Then on Saturday
some of the LVSers went to Pippen's Place Animal Sanctuary in Irving to help
clean up the ponds and creeks.
They
return home this week after a five match road trip as they host Ursuline on
Tuesday at 5:45pm and 7:45pm and Hockaday on Thursday at 5:00pm and 7:00pm.
Six games into the season, Nolan Catholic has been on the road for the last 5 matches returning home next week. LVS improves to 5-1 on the season with a 5-1 win over TCA tonight with Megan Bettinger scoring her second hat trick in just 6 games.
The Lady Vikings took a 2-0 lead before the Lady Trojans got one back before half. Bettinger started the first half scoring and just 2 minutes after, Emily Keoughan scored what would turn out to be the game winner.
In the second half of play, the Lady Vikings spoiled the evening for TCA scoring 3 unanswered goals; 2 more came Bettinger's way and the final goal was credited to Hannah Allred.
"We scored some quality goals tonight and created several others, " said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.
The TCA goalkeeper pushed away 19 of the Lady Vikings 24 shots on goal. FItzgerald continued, "We were patient, attacked in waves, and kept the ball nicely."
Brennan Flynn, Bettinger, Keoughan, and Allred were all credited with assists on the night.
The Lady Vikings return home next week with a pair of games starting on Tuesday night as they host district rival, Ursuline. The JV gets the night started at 6pm with the varsity at 7:45pm. T
Thursday night Hockaday comes to town for a 6pm and 7:45pm kick-off
as well.
Since play has yet to start in California and most of Texas, there was almost no change between the preseason rankings and this week's SIMA FAB 50s.
On the boys side, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) is off to a 10-0 start and halfway home to a fourth straight SIMA FAB 50 No. 1 finish. Meanwhile, Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) is No. 1 in the girls rankings and will hold that spot at least until early January when the team starts regular season play.
BIG MOVERS -- BOYS:San Clemente (San Clemente, Calif.). The Triton were the only team to move up more than one spot last week, going from No. 48 to No. 46. GIRLS:Ursuline Academy (Dallas, Texas). Ursuline and TAPPS rival Nolan Catholic (Fort Worth, Texas) each moved up three spots in this week's Top 25. They enter the week a combined 9-0.
NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 27 Ponte Vedra (Ponte Vedra, Fla.), No. 33 Fleming Island (Fleming Island, Fla.), No. 45 Palm Beach Lakes (West Palm Beach, Fla.), No. 47 Sunlake (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) and No. 50 Rivera(Brownsville, Texas). GIRLS: No. 23 Oviedo (Oviedo, Fla.) and No. 50 Cinco Ranch (Katy, Texas).
LOOKING AHEAD: -- BOYS: Although on the surface, section power Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) would be an easy favorite over Roosevelt (Fresno Calif.), which is coming off an eight-loss season. However, it was Roosevelt that handed Buchanan its lone draw in a 21-3-1 seson last year. GIRLS: No. 48 St. Francis-Mountain View (Mountain View, Calif.) takes on No. 16 Monte Vista (Danville, Calif.) and No. 17 Sacred Heart Prep (Atherton, Calif.) this week. The outcomes of these two matches will be important in sizing up the top NorCal programs this season.
The Lady Vikings were put to the test on the road against Bishop Lynch tonight as they drop their first match of the year and fall to 4-1-0. The Lady Friars scored goals in each half and the Lady Vikings were not able to answer despite playing a fairly decent match.
"Lynch is a good team with some dynamic players and those players beat us tonight," said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.
There was a good pace to the game like you see with most of the games in TAPPS 1-5A but in the end the Lady Friars prevailed to improve to 2-1-0 with goals by Aly Sympkins and Anisa Lopez.
Next up for the Lady Vikings is TCA as they continue their 4-match road trip on Wednesday. Kick-off is set for 6:00pm.
The JV took a 1-0 lead tonight on another goal by Anna Keller but were unable to hold on to that lead and dropped their first district match of the year.
On the Lynch game-winner, LVS goalkeeper, Reece Shelton was injured on the play and was transported to the hospital for testing. Shelton suffered a concussion but good news as the CT test came back negative. We wish Reece a speedy recovery and want to thank Bishop Lynch for the kind tweet @blathletics
The Lady Vikings Soccer team heads out on the road again this week with a JV/Varsity double header tonight at Bishop Lynch at 6:00pm and 7:30pm and then again on Wednesday at 6:00pm with just the varsity.
The players had a rare half a week off last week with all the Thanksgiving soccer showcases cancelled due to the weather. "We look forward to getting back to work," LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald said.
The Lady Vikings have 4 more games left before Final Exams start in 2 weeks, with 3 of the 4 games being district games.
We give Thanks to all our supporters, our fans, our community, our friends, our families, and most of all, to God, who gives us the opportunity to compete to the best of our ability each and every day.
The JV season officially kicked off last week at home against the varsity team from Pantego Christian Academy on Thursday night. The first half saw little action in either attacking end, most of the play being done in the middle of the field. Credit that to two backlines that were making it very difficult to get behind. The Lady Vikings and Lady Panthers would go in a scoreless deadlock.
Head coach, Alex Mechalske commented, “I think the first half of play was all about getting the excitement of playing out. The preseason can be long and the built up tension to finally play showed in some nervous touches and passes we were making.”
The Lady Vikings played a different game in the second half rattling off 4 goals in the 35 minutes of play. “They took the information at half time that was given to them, and they ran with it,” MmMechalske said. Anna Keller started everything off getting on the end of a ball played over the backline, a few bounces and a volley found the back of the net. Next it was freshman Alexis Dickenson slipping through the backline who found a wide open Keller on the backside to easily tuck it away. The Lady Vikings had found their stride as Sophie Bailey tacked on the third of the night with great individual effort in the box. Pantego would not let up and created a few chances of their own, eventually slipping one past for a goal of their own.
The Lady Vikings would add one more from Rachel Emrich in the remaining 13 seconds of the match as they closed out their season opener with a 4-1 win. They will travel to Bishop Lynch next Monday at 6:00pm with the varsity following at 7:30pm.
The Lady Vikings traveled to Liberty Christian for their 3rd straight road game and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before the midway point of the 1st half. Katee Kimmey and Hannah Allred combined for the 1st goal of the night which was credited as an own goal. Emily Keoughan and Allred added to the score with 2 nice goals to give the Lady Vikings a 3 goal lead.
The Lady Lions got back into the game with a goal of their own off a corner with about 4 to play in the first half.
"We switched off for one moment but the first half was absolute quality. The chances we created were from all over the field; it was fun to watch, "said LVS head coach Jay Fitzgerald.
A bit inconsistent throughout the beginning of the second half, the Lady Vikings scored another goal with another nice combination between Keoughan and Allred.
Down by 3 goals, Liberty got themselves another corner and capitalized for their second goal of the evening in the 73rd minute. Rachel Beirermann scored both goals for the Lady Lions.
The Lady Vikings move to 4-0-0 in district play while the Lady Lions drop to 2-1-0.
Nolan continues their road trip the Monday after Thanksgiving as they travel to Bishop Lynch for a JV and Varsity match.
The JV takes on Pantego Christian Academy this Thursday night at Doskocil Stadium. The kick-off is set for 6:00pm
The Lady Vikings traveled to Plano Prestonwood tonight through rain and thunderstorms but all they needed was an 80 minute window to defeat the Lady Lions by a score of 5-0. The game was originally scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm and got delayed only 15 minutes.
The wind picked up throughout the game and the rain began to fall starting at halftime and throughout the entire second half.
"We talk about external conditions all the time and tonight the conditions were very difficult to play in," said Lady Vikings head coach Jay Fitzgerald.
Senior, centerback Regan Hafer got the scoring started off a corner in the 20th minute and then 5 minutes later, Hannah Allred scored her first goal as a Lady Viking off a blast from the top of the 18.
Fitzgerald went on to say, "This game was very unpredictable with a strong wind and the second half going into a 30-40 mph wind we played some of the best soccer of the year."
The Lady Vikings scored 3 goals in the second half with Allred and Hafer adding one more each and Megan Bettinger scoring her 4th goal of the year. Selena Guzman had 2 assists on the night while Brennan Flynn, Kate Kleiser, Emily Keoughan, and Bettinger all had one each.
Hafer and Allred on their thoughts on the conditions and the match.
Liberty Christian (2-0-0) is up next for the Lady Vikings (3-0-0) and that match will be tomorrow night, on the road, kicking off at 6:00pm in Argyle.
The JV host Pantego Christian varsity on Thursday at home at 6:00pm as well.
A slow start to the evening but the Lady Vikings found their
stride 20 minutes into the match as Emily Keoughan rattled off back to back
goals. That wouldn’t be the end to her night either as she found the back of
the net one more time in the second half.
“It’s a hard environment to go into and play. For our first
road test of the season I thought our ladies needed the time in the beginning
to settle in and find their roles, " said LVS assistant coach, Alex
Mechalske.
Mikaela Gamboa would finish the first half off with a goal
of her own on a cross from Selena Guzman. She would also get the second half
scoring started with the help of great individual play from Katee Kimmey.
Another shutout night from our backline and senior
goalkeeper, Gracie Emrich.
Alyssa Clinkscales, Kate Kleiser, and Jordan Hisel also
added to the scoring on the night with goals of their own.Hisel scores the first high school goal of
her carer, while Clickscales gets her second on the year to extend her goal
streak to 2 games.
Mechalske added, "second chance efforts from quality
individual effort was nice to see."
The 2-0-0 Lady Vikings continue district play next week with
back to back away games at Prestonwood and Liberty on Monday and Tuesday.The JV play there first game of the season on
Thursday night at home as they host the varsity team from Pantego Christian
Academy.That match will kick off at
6:00pm.
The Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer team took a 2-0 lead within the opening 9 minutes of play on goals by Mikaela Gamboa and Megan Bettinger. Midway through the first half they had already doubled their lead with a goal a piece from Gamboa and Bettinger.
"We have had a solid pre-season to this point and it is nice to see it all come together as we play a game that matters," said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.
Bettinger added another goal while Abbey Button and Alyssa Clickscales both score their first high school varsity goals of their careers.
Senior, Gracie Emrich and sophomore, Sarah Becan combined in goal in the 7-0 shutout win over Parish Episcopal.
Emily Koeughan, Brennan Flynn, and Allee Kimmey each got their names on the score sheet with helpers on the evening.
The next game for the Lady Vikings is Thursday evening at 5:30pm on the road at Bishop Dunne.
With games cancelled last week due to weather the Lady VIkings open district play at home tomorrow night as they host Parish Episcopal. Tuesday nights match is varsity only.
LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald commented, "We can't wait for tomorrow night... new team, new stadium...come out and see the show."
Kick off is at 6:00pm.
District play continues on Thursday night at the Lady Vikings travel to Bishop Dunne for a 5:30pm kick.
The 2016 Lady Vikings Women's Soccer Team opens district play at home on Thursday. They will host John Paul II with the JV kicking off at 6pm with the varsity following at 7:45pm.
LVS is in search for their 5th TAPPS State Title. "We always like our chances, I can't wait to get going with this group. We have had a solid pre-season, we have amazing personalities, and special talent, " mentioned LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald, who is in his 17th year in charge of women's soccer.
On Tuesday night, the varsity will take on THESA in their final pre-season match before district play begins. This match will kick off at 7pm at Doskocil Stadium.
Come out and support your Lady Vikings at the brand new Doskocil Stadium all season long. See your face on the state of the art video scoreboard and sit in the shadows of the amazing new press box.
Try-outs will be held on Monday, October 19th at Gateway Park. The bus will depart from the arena at 3:20pm to take players to Gateway Park. Try-outs will last from 3:30pm-4:30pm. Players will wear white t-shirt, blue shorts, and white socks. Bus will return to Nolan at 4:40pm.
The rosters will be posted on Tuesday, Oct. 20th and each team will have their meeting on that day. Rosters will consist of 17-20 players. Training will continue on Wednesday, scrimmage on Thursday, and Media Day & Retreat on Friday.
Upcoming Scrimmage/Game Schedule
Thursday, October 22 vs HSAA IntraSquad 7pm at Doskocil Stadium
Monday, October 26 vs THESA JV 6:30pm at Doskocil Stadium
Tuesday, November 3rd vs THESA V 7:00p at Doskocil Stadium
Thursday, November 5th District Opener vs John Paul II JV/V 6:00pm/7:45pm at Doskocil Stadium
*Schedule Subject to Change
*Full Schedule Coming Soon
Fort Worth, TX (October 15, 2015) – The Nolan Catholic High
School Girls’ Team was recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of
America (NSCAA) with the 2014-15 High School Team Academic Award.
The NSCAA annually recognizes high school soccer programs
that have excelled in the classroom, in addition to their performance on the
field.
The Nolan Catholic High School Girls’ soccer team was one of
248 girls teams nationwide recognized for exemplary performance in the
classroom as a team during the 2014-15 academic year.
To qualify for this award, the team must have a minimum
grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year. The team GPA is
determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of
players.The Nolan Catholic High School
Girls’ soccer team had an average GPA of 3.70.
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America(NSCAA) administers an extensive high school
awards and recognition program which includes Coach of the Year, All-America,
long-term service, and special recognition awards designed to recognize excellence
in soccer, academics, and service to the game. In all, nearly 11,000 awards are
presented by the NSCAA each year for high school, college and youth soccer
programs. These awards and recognition are available only to NSCAA member
coaches and their players.
About the NSCAA
Founded in 1941 and based in Kansas City, Mo., the National
Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) is a non-profit organization with
a mission to educate coaches, encourage excellence and serve the soccer
community.
The NSCAA is the world’s largest soccer coaches’
organization with members at every level of the game, from professional to
grassroots. The membership also includes administrators, referees and others in
the soccer industry. The NSCAA provides its members opportunities to enhance
the game of soccer by providing a national education program, interaction and
networking opportunities, and membership benefits.
For more information about the National Soccer Coaches
Association of America, visit www.NSCAA.com.
