Home sweep last night; On road on Monday

The JV started the evening off with a dramatic 3-2 victory over TCA, going up 2-0 with 24 seconds to go in the first half.  Emma Hernandez won a ball at midfield and on the turn played a well timed ball into Paola Vasquez to double the lead for the Lady Vikings.

Victoria Clark got the night started with a goal of her own in the 33rd minute, unassisted.  "Tonight we proved that hard work pays off.  Every player o the field contributed to the victory.  We were aggressive and had the mindset that we could win," commented Clark.

The game continued to be back and forth with chances on both ends of the field.  Goalkeeper, Isabella Hernandez who is playing in place of Paige Ouldhouse, out with mono, came up big for the Lady Vikings keeping the game in hand.

At the midway point in the second half the Lady Trojans got one back but in response, the Lady Vikings answered back as Vasquez scored to double the lead again which turned out to be the game winner.

Captain on the evening, Makenna Broyles commented on the win...
I thought we did really well getting the ball over the top to our forwards and we communicated a lot better than our previous games.  We did really well as a whole and came out on top.

The varsity continued that momentum with a 1-0 shutout win.

The match was a bit uneventful as far as scoring chances with each team only creating 5 shots on goal.  Goalkeeper, Avery Boley earned her 11th shutout of the season denying any chance against her.

Mikaela Gamboa was able to knife herself in front of the Trojan goalkeeper a couple times bot of which resulted in goals but the first one disallowed due to an offsides call but she wouldn't be denied on her second chance off an assist from Meghan Kittleson.

Head coach, Jay Fitzgerald on the home win
TCA is a good team, they work hard and put you under pressure but tonight we were so focused on the next action that we got the result we deserved.

The Lady Vikings are undefeated in the last 15 games and improved to 17-4-3 on the season.  Both teams hit the road on Monday as they travel to Lynch for a 6:00pm and 7:45pm kick-off.

Double Header Tonight at Home

The Lady Vikings will kick off tonight at 5pm and 7pm at Doskocil Stadium as they host TCA.  The JV will start the night off with the varsity following.  Both teams look to get important results as the post-season is a little  over 2 weeks away.  The varsity is riding a 14 match undefeated streak into tonights match with an overall record of 16-4-3 sitting in 3rd place in district play at 8-3-0.

Both groups have fought some injuries/sickness throughout the year but the competitive spirit runs high and has allowed the groups prevail.  Head coach, Jay Fitzgerald commented, "The next one up has been ready all year; like I have said from the beginning, this is probably one of most special groups in the history of our program."

The varsity match will be broadcast LIVE presented by @NCHSmedia.  Kick off is 7:00pm.  CLICK HERE to view.

LVS district play continues; 500th Game

The Lady Vikings continue district play this week starting on the road on Monday night traveling to Parish Episcopal for a 5:00pm kick-off.  Sitting at 15-4-3 on the season, the urgency continues for the Lady Vikings striving to improve their 7-3-0 district record.  Dropping early season matches to Ursuline, Lynch, and John Paul it is time to make up for lost points as the Road to Waco pushes forward.

Monday nights' match marks head coach, Jay Fitzgerald's, 500th game all at Nolan Catholic.

Fitzgerald commented on the milestone...
The only number that matters on Monday is 14.

Currently the Lady Vikings hold a 13-match unbeaten streak since December 27 of last year.  The Lady Vikings have compiled 2 tournament wins, a draw against the #6 team in the nation, a 19 shooter PK shootout, giving away less then a goal a game with 80 goals scored.

Thursday the JV and Varsity teams return home to host TCA for a 5:00pm and 7:00pm kick-off at Doskocil Stadium.

LVS continues unbeaten streak

The Lady Vikings returned for their first home district game of the new year coming away with a 3-1 win over Liberty Christian.  Freshman, Maggie Tepera also returned after being out for ac couple weeks with a concussion and scored the games first goal with a blast from outside the 18 in the top corner.  The game turned a bit sloppy throughout the first half of play even with the Lady Vikings outshooting the Warriors 7-0.

Start of the second half the game turned a bit more consistent and senior, Mikaela Gamboa added to the Lady Viking lead with a nice feed from Abby Geiser.  Gamboa found the open space in the back of the box to slot home for the eventual game winner.

The Lady Vikings continued to put the pressure on the Warriors but half way through the second half, the Warriors cut the lead in half with a goal on their first shot of the evening.

Switching off for a brief time, the Lady Vikings answered right back and Geiser and Gamboa reversed roles with the freshman doubling the lead.

"All year we have responded well to adversity and as soon as we conceded we went right at them to answer," said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.

A week of recovery saw a fresh Lady Viking team take the field Thursday night improving their record to 15-4-3.  Fitzgerald added, "Our rhythm was off a bit but to be expected after we spent the week to recover going into the second half of our district season."

Splitting home and away next week starting with Parish on the road on Monday, the Lady Vikings return home on Thursday to take on TCA.

JV at Ursuline is POSTPONDED

The JV match at Ursuline for Tuesday, January 16th has been postponed due to cold weather forecast.  New date is TBD.

JV going for Gold; Varsity continues pool play

The JV team advanced to the Championship match in the Bear Cave Classic with a 6-0 win over Denton and a 7-0 shutout against Castleberry.  They will take on Martin High School at 9:50am at Brewer High School Field #3 tomorrow morning.  The JV looks for their 3rd Bear Cave Championship in 4 years.

The varsity is playing in their first Bear Cave Classic and with 12 points after 2 games, lead the group and need a win tomorrow against West Mesquite to advanced to the championship match.  First game is at 1:50pm at Field #1 and the championship would be in the stadium at 5:50pm vs the winner of Group C (Denton Ryan/Dunbar/Carter Riverside/Mansfield Summit).

Next up for the Lady Vikings is Tuesday at Ursuline for the JV at 5:00pm and Thursday at home for the varsity at 6:00pm against Liberty Christian.

Bear Cave Classic starts today

The Lady Vikings JV and Varsity teams head to Brewer High School today for games in the Bear Cave Classic.  JV is coming off a big win at Greenhill earlier in the week and play 2 games today at 8:30am and 11:10am taking on Denton High and Castleberry.  The varsity start the event off with Denton as well at 12:30pm and then Terrell at 4:30pm.

The event continues through Saturday with the 3rd place matches and Championships.  All games are played at Brewer High School.

LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald stresses the importance of the event
Our program is in a good place now and these events allow us to continue to progress.  The environment that our players have to deal with keeps us on our toes.  The weather, the grass, the size of the fields, etc. all have an impact on our preparation.  We must stick with our process.

Lady Vikings finish strong and start strong; High expectations continue

Over the past couple decades the Lady Vikings have played almost 100 opponents from out of state, more then any program in the country between traveling to California and Florida for showcases and hosting one of the nations top national showcases, the National Elite Prep Showcase.

Nike hosted an event in San Diego, the So Cal High School Classic, and the Lady Vikings were all over it.  "We pride ourselves on having the most competitive national schedule every year, this challenge helps our players grow on and off the field," commented LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.

Heading west and outscoring opponents 13-2 with a dramatic double overtime, shootout win over Mission Hills in the Championship over Christmas break has given the Lady Vikings a true identity.

This identity carried them through to the following weekend in their own showcase taking on the nations #6 team, Keller resulting in a 1-1 draw, followed up by an end to end 2-2 draw against Florida Buchholz High School.

The National Elite Prep Showcase hosted teams from the West and East coast with 9 of the Top 20 teams in the land.  Going 1-0-2 in NEPS 2018, the Lady Vikings turned to district play the following Monday and handed Bishop Dunne a 9-0 loss with scoring coming from 8 different players.

Poised and ready for the upcoming Bear Cave Classic starting Thursday, the JV and Varsity look to continue moving forward as they prepare for the second half of district season.

The JV returned from break to play in the GCISD Invitational which provided top local competition.  They will head back on the road tonight to take on Greenhill at 4:30pm.

Fitzgerald is happy where his program is...
We have a unique program this year, everyone looks to prove themselves on a daily basis.  The challenge and expectations continue to and will always be at the highest level possible.  We stress mastering the things that required no talent and self-awareness is critical to stay on the right path.  There is a good mix of talent, youth, and experience.  The team continues to look in the mirror reflecting each day on the process.  We cannot go away from our style and our process.  Wasting time through excuses doesn't allow us to respond physically or mentally, so we stay the course and carefully but quickly choose the right path that will lead us to Waco.

Freshman Duo combine against #6 team in country; NEPS 2018

Fresh off a So Cal HS Classic title, the Lady Vikings return home to host their own national event opening the National Elite Prep Showcase with a draw against the #6 team in the country, Keller High School.

Starting off a bit slow, the Lady Vikings were able to defend their way to a result.  Until about the 12th minute, there were minimal chances created.  Excitement, nerves, youth, playing on the big stage all played a part in the slow start.  "The process never sleeps," junior defender, Maddie Caffey says.  The Lady Vikings are focused on their process and it must align from the first whistle to the final whistle.

The first half saw several chances just miss from a variety of different build ups.  Cross were whipped in, aggressive runs made their way across the box, and a crossbar was hit at one point during the first half of play.  

The matchup between 2 State Semi-Finalists was scoreless at the half.  Head coach, Jay Fitzgerald mentioned to the team at halftime that were had chances but not enough compared to the standard of the team at this specific point of the season.  "We were dangerous 5 times and that is not enough," said Fitzgerald.

The second half was a bit different as the game was more end to end but saw quality moments especially when freshmen, Maggie Tepera and Abby Geiser teamed up for the games first goal and the Lady Vikings ahead.  Tepera slipped a nice ball through to a well timed run from Geiser who beat the Keller goalkeeper to the ball with a toe up under the keeper for the go ahead goal.

The Lady Vikings held off the Lady Indians until just over a minute to play in regulation with several attempts to clear the ball out of the 18 yard box.

"We have high expectations and this game was one of those games we we came so far and if only we could have grinder it out for 62 seconds more.  A draw against the #6 team in the country is very positive for us none the less, " commented Fitzgerald.

Day 2 of NEPS 2018 continues tomorrow as the Lady Vikings take their 9-4-1 record against Florida's, Buchholz High School out of Gainsville, FL at 2:00pm.  The match will be broadcast LIVE on the Official TV Channel of Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer.  CLICK HERE to Watch #lvsLIVE.

National Showcase starts today; NEPS 2018

This afternoons National Elite Prep Showcase opening match sees two teams that have a couple things in common.  For one, head coaches Jay Fitzgerald and Billy Griffiths are good buddies who have coached together for a number of years and two, they both advanced to their respective State Final Four Tournaments last year.

The Keller Lady Indians advanced to the UIL 6A State Final Four by defeating Southlake Carroll in the Regional Tournament earning them a spot at State to take on Pflugerville Hendrickson the in the State Semi Final.

The Nolan Catholic Lady Vikings advanced to the TAPPS 6A State Final Four by defeating John Paul in the Regional Championship earning them a spot at State to take on Ursuline Academy in the State semi-final.

The Lady Indians lost to the eventual UIL 6A State Champs as well as the Lady Vikings losing to the eventual TAPPS 6A State Champs.

The Lady Vikings are fresh off a successful trip to California taking home some hardware as they were crowned champions of the So Cal High School Classic presented by Nike.  "We have played a lot of soccer over the Christmas Break, " said Nolan Catholic head coach Jay Fitzgerald. 

Since December 27 they have played 4 games right on the heels of NEPS where they will play another 3 games and then a district game the following Monday. 

Fitzgerald continued, "It's a lot of soccer but we have managed it well and our players have taken real good care of themselves; we feel real good right now."

At 9-4-0, the Lady Vikings kick off at 1pm today returning Friday to take on Florida, powerhouse Buchholz High School.  They conclude the event against Odessa on Saturday morning.

Today's match will be broadcast LIVE on NEPSTV brought to you by the Official Channel of Nolan Catholic Womens Soccer.  CLICK HERE to Watch.

For more information on NEPS visit the showcase website www.nationaleliteprepshowcase.com or get updates on Twitter or Instagram @nepShowcase.