Two home games, two wins

The Nolan Catholic Women’s Soccer team improving to 2-1-0 on the season with a convincing 8-0 win over Parish Episcopal last night at Doskocil Stadium.  Emily Keoughan got the Lady Vikings on the board first with a gritty effort in the 6-yard box to pound home the games first goal. 

The standard was definitely set after that effort with one attack after another from different areas of the field.

LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald said, “We played with a relentless spirit, mixing up how we built the ball and taking advantage of the right spaces.  We feed off each other so well and have a great energy about the group.”

Keoughan got the helper on the second goal knocked in by Hannah Allred and then switched it up with Allred getting the assist on Keoughan’s second goal on the night.  Each with 2 goals and 2 assists on the night, Keoughan and Allred lead the Lady Vikings on the score sheet. 

Alyssa Clinkscales got her first goal of the season just before the end of the opening half after just missing a quality header in front of goal. 

The Lady Vikings took a 4-0 lead into halftime and we able to match that in the second half with goals by Megan Bettinger, Allee Kimmey, Selena Guzman, and another by Allred.  The playmaking ability of Brennan Flynn set up the 2 goals by Kimmey A. and Guzman.

The attacking relationships became more efficient and took form more often as the game went on with the Lady Vikings creating quality chances from consistent movement and decisive play.

Player Quotes

Junior, Forward

Alyssa Clinkscales (1 G, 1 A)

On the taking one to the face
"Took one to the face for the team, no other team I can say I would do that for.  Love this team!  All kidding aside, it felt great out there and feels even better to have another home win."

Senior, Forward

Emily Keoughan (2 G, 2 A)

On the Game
"We came out and took care of business, we controlled the game start to finish and never let up."

Sophomore, Midfielder

Allee Kimmey (1 G, 1 A)

On the Game
"Tonight we really connected the ball and played as a team.  There was a great atmosphere and it was good to get another win."

The Lady Vikings finish up their 3-game home stand next week as they host TCA on Tuesday night with the JV kicking off the night at 5:00pm.  The varsity will follow at 7:00pm.

The JV team will travel across town to meet up with Ursuline tonight in their district opener at 5:00pm.

Home opener; LVS back to winning ways

The Lady Vikings continued district play after the Thanksgiving break with a solid 3-1 win over Liberty Christian.  All 4 goals were scored in the second half, the first one coming off the kick-off for Liberty. 

LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald commented on the Liberty goal, "We know better then that but it ended up being a wake up call and it just got better from then on out for us... what a way to finish out the game from our team."

Liberty is a relentless team that can strike at anytime.  They have the athleticism and grit to make teams pay for falling asleep.  The Lady Vikings responded well after an average opening half.  The ball movement was solid but the final pass or final decision was not consistent.  With only 2 shots conceded during the entire match, the Lady Vikings were able to string together good moments leading to 3 top class goals.

Senior, Hannah Allred had 3 assists on the night with Katee Kimmey, Brennan Flynn, and Megan Bettinger with a goal a piece.  "The goals were absolute class," Fitzgerald said.

Quotes from Seniors
Midfielder Brennan Flynn
On the game
"It was so fun to be back out on our home field & felt great to get a win!!!"


Forward Hannah Allred
On conceding first
"I thought we played really well once we picked it up in the second half. I'm proud of how we bounced back and made the things happen that we're supposed to happen."


Midfielder Katee Kimmey
On conceding first
"We kept composure after going down, and put away the goals we needed to win the first home game!!"


The result improved the Lady Vikings to 1-1-0 overall and in district play and continue their home stand as they host Parish on Wednesday at 5:00pm.  The JV take to the road on Thursday to take on Ursuline kicking off a 5:00pm as well.

District play continues; Home Opener

The Lady Vikings continue district play, Monday night, as they come home after a 3-0 loss to Ursuline in their TAPPS 1-6A district opener last Thursday evening.  Liberty Christian comes to Fort Worth marking their first district match of the season.  Kick off is set for 6:00pm at Doskocil Stadium.  The match will broadcast LIVE @NCHSmedia.

With goals given up in the first and last moments of the first half last Thursday night, the Lady Vikings could not dig themselves out of a 3-0 halftime deficit to Ursuline.  Despite solid LVS moments, Ursuline keep the clean sheet to move to 2-0-0 on the season with a 3-0 win over John Paul II earlier in the week.  LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald mentioned, "Ursuline is a solid team, the started strong and capitalized on key moments in the game.  We were not consistent in any phase of the game and we sure did learn a lot about ourselves."

Fitzgerald is opportunistic even though the consistency was not their.  His team were able to put good pressure on the Lady Bears and their goalkeeper had to push away some opportunities that may have changed the complexion on the game.  "Leah (Ursuline GK) came up huge, twice, and managed her box well.  We didn't start strong but when we started to get some rhythm, she answered," Fitzgerald commented.  The second half of play did not produce any goals but was end to end with some half chances here and there.

While the varsity was kicking off district play, the JV was competing in the Liberty Christian Varsity Tournament where they went 0-2-1.  Emma Hernandez and Sophie Bailey each scored in the first match against Prince of Peace.  The match ended up locked at 2 a piece.

Needing a result to control their own destiny, next up was TCA, last years TAPPS 1-6A semi-finalist.  Neither team could score a goal but a 0-0 draw was all the Lady Vikings needed to go into the final group play match controlling their destiny.

With a win, they advance to play host Liberty Christian.  Tyler Grace was the opponent and they were too much for the Lady Vikings scoring 4 first half goals to advance to the semi-finals.  LVS JV head coach, Alex Mechalske was pleased with the showing and used this event to establish roles and expectations.

The JV will travel to Ursuline this Thursday to kick off district play.  Kick off is set for 5:00pm.  The varsity will continue their home stand playing host to Parish on Wednesday at 5:00pm.

#42 LVS opens district play on the road

The 2017 Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer team opens district play on the road TONIGHT at Ursuline Academy. Kick off is at 6:30pm.  The JV team is participating in the 9th Annual Liberty Varsity Tournament in Argyle.  They take on Prince of Peace at 1:50pm.

Both teams are ready to get back on the field as they were both eliminated from the post season in the Final Four last year.  The varsity has been to a TAPPS record, 32 Final Fours.

With 16 returners, LVSers have their sights are set on their 5th State Championship.

LVS head coach Jay Fitzgerald said, "Our group is talented, experienced, and hungry.  I have been here a long time and this group just feels different and we could have lots of fun this year."

Aside from a loaded district, one of the top districts in the area, the Lady Vikings pride themselves on their strength of schedule.

The National Elite Prep Showcase is hosted by the Lady Vikings along with Southlake Carroll which has grown into one of the top events across the country.  Of the 36 teams, half of them are from out of town including 6 teams from California.  The NEPS event, formerly the Nolan Showcase, is in its 15th year.

The season starts with district play, then tournament play, more district play, and then the post season. begins in February.  The Allison Horn Memorial Showcase is always a mainstay on the LVS schedule which is hosted by Colleyville Heritage.  The Lady Vikings will match up with the #1 team in the country, FM Marcus, then host Colleyville Heritage, and #49 Allen.

Fitzgerald continued, "We only play the best... private or public school.  These challenges are a MUST for our program and have been for over 2 decades."

The Lady Vikings have gained national respect ever since 1999 when they were ranked for the first time in program history and each year since then they have bounced in and out of polls ranked as high at #3 in the nation.

This years pre-season national rankings have Nolan Catholic at #42.  This marks the 17th consecutive year the Lady Vikings have been ranked at least in the Nations Top 50.

It all gets started tonight against  #11 Ursuline Academy.  The Nolan Catholic / Ursuline rivalry is one of the best in the country, if not the best.  The teams have met 15 times in the State Championship match with Nolan Catholic looking to get over the hump.

Fitzgerald, excited about his team this year, likes his chances of kicking off the season on the road against the Lady Bears.

The JV will be busy this week, as they follow up TODAY'S 1:50pm match vs Prince of Peace with 2 games on Friday against TCA and Tyler Grace at 5:20pm and 7:40pm.  Semi-Finals and Finals will be played on Saturday.  For more information on the 9th Annual Liberty Varsity Tournament CLICK HERE.

 

LVS17 Opening this week

The 2016-2017 TAPPS season officially begins today across the state.  The Lady Vikings have a bye tonight and will head out on the road on Thursday to open up district against Ursuline Academy.

"We are in our 15th week at this point and we just want to get out an kick someone else," LVS Head Coach laughed.

The Lady Vikings announced the varsity and junior varsity teams at the end of October with a total of 42 players between the 2 teams.   The varsity team returns 15 letter-winners from last season and of those 15, 8 of those are seniors.  Fitzgerald continued, "We are always pretty consistent but this year we are overly excited about both groups... we have great talent and leadership not just with our varsity but with our JV as well."

The varsity will hit the road to kick off the district season at Ursuline on Thursday at 6:30pm.  The JV will be competing at the 9th Annual Liberty Christian Varsity Tournament starting on Thursday where they will take on Prince of Peace at 1:50pm.  The event continues through Friday and into Saturday.

The TAPPS season consists of 8 teams throughout the DFW area which includes 14 games for the varsity.  The JV team only have 5 teams within the district that have JV programs.  The rest of the season schedule includes UIL public schools in non-district and tournament action throughout the season.