Friday, December 14, 2012

2012 in the Books; Alumni Game on Jan. 5th

TEAM LVS finishes 2012 with a 6-game win streak, outscoring opponents 26-4.  Gwennie Puente and Elizabeth Havenhill each scored 2 goals a piece against Dunne tonight while Emma Chandlee and Gaby Larson each tallied one in a Lady Vikings 6-0 shutout at Doskocil Stadium.

The Lady Vikings improve to 7-2-0 overall with good momentum going into 2013.  All but 3 players have scored at least a point during the first 9 games of the season. 

This is a deep but young team which has shown impressive growth since November.

The new 2013 semester brings one of the most competitive schedules in the country for TEAM LVS.  Aside from the remaining 5 district games, the Lady Vikings host the National Elite Prep Showcase, starting off their own tournament against the #1 team in the nation, Plano West.  The following weekend in the Allison Horn Colleyville Heritage Showcase, they face 2 nationally ranked teams in Grapevine and Carroll.  Other notable opponents left to play are UIL 4A State Champion and Runner-Up, Highland Park and Byron Nelson, as well as, Coppell, Hockaday, and WF Rider.

The Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer Alumni Game will be Saturday, January 5th at 11:00am at Doskocil Stadium.

Happy Holidays from TEAM LVS.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

It takes OT to beat the Bears

Ursuline's, Katie Lund put the Bears up 2-0 on a long range shot in the first half and off a header in the 2nd half.  The Bears were relentless in the first 60 minutes of play until the Lady Vikings started to chip away at "something".

That "something" stemmed from the energy coming from the crowd.  It is dead week and what a better way to take a study break then coming out to watch one of the greatest high school soccer rivalries in the country - Nolan vs Ursuline. 

"We couldn't let this crowd down", commented head coach Jay Fitzgerald, "They kept us in the game and they never gave up." 

The variety in the stands was impressive - friends, family, alumni, NORSEMEN, the Band, and even some of the boys soccer players showed up as they returned from the TCA win tonight.

After going down 2-0, the Lady Vikings scored 3 unanswered goals to win at home.  Fitzgerald went on to say, "We found that extra dimension that was have been looking for all year."  Junior, Emma Chandlee got the Lady Vikings on the board to cut the Ursuline lead in half off a corner from Sarah Brown and the just 5 minutes later Chandlee struck again off a perfectly centered cross from Gabbie Puente.

The game was even and the crowd was loud.

The Lady Bears turned up the pressure and the Lady Vikings responded getting to the end of regulation and a much needed break.  That 5 minute break before Sudden Death overtime was what the Lady Vikings needed to get their heads back on straight and regroup.

Overtime again, just like game one between the two teams at UTD back in November which saw Ursuline coming back from 2-0 down and taking the game in overtime.

"Now it is our turn", Fitzgerald told his team before overtime, "We are at HOME, don't let this crowd down."

Just 2 minutes and 56 seconds into the first overtime period, the Lady Vikings won it. 

Sophomore, Jordan Gamboa spun the center back, raced into the corner of the box and sent a well timed ball across to Brown who netted her 3rd goal of the year.  With that win the Lady Vikings improve to 6-2-0.

The JV match before hand was just as dramatic as the Vikings went down 1-0.  Well into the second half, it seemed like the Lady Vikings would never even the game and like that, a pair of Katherine Paul goals put Nolan ahead until the Lady Bears evened the match with about two to play and that is how it ended, 2-2.  Game one in November ended the same way but neither team was able to get on the board and that game ended 0-0.

TEAM LVS varsity continues their 3 game home string as they host Bishop Dunne tomorrow night at 6pm at Doskocil Stadium.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Shutout at Home and Ursuline on Thursday

The Lady Vikings scored 4 unanswered goals from four different players in route to a 4-0 shutout over TCA at Doskocil Stadium on Monday night.  Kathleen Keoughan got TEAM LVS on the board first, on a corner kick in the 10th minute of play and Gaby Larson added a second, just 5 minutes later. 

Ashley Fischer and Gabby Parra scored a pair of goals to put the game away with about 20 and 18 minutes to go in the second half. 

The Lady Vikings will host Ursuline on Thursday night with the JV getting things started at 6:00pm and the varsity following at 7:30pm.  Both games will be played at Doskocil Stadium.

Bishop Dunne comes to Fort Worth on Friday night at 6:00pm.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Home Stretch 2012

The Lady Vikings will finish out 2012 at home this week starting tonight as they host TCA at 7pm tonight.  TCA was not able to put together a JV team, so tonights match will just be varsity.

Ursuline will come to Fort Worth on Thursday night for 2 matches at 6:00pm and 7:30pm and then TEAM LVS rounds out 2012 on Friday as they host the Lady Falcons of Bishop Dunne at 6:00pm.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

TEAM LVS goes 3-0 on the road

Katherine Paul and Elena Guera started the night off for the Lady Vikings as they scored the only 2 goals the JV needed in route to a 2-0 win over John Paul II as they stay undefeated on the season at 3-0-1.

The tone was set by the JV as the varsity took the field for the second match which was interrupted by a 15 minute power outage 7 minutes into the match.

A very impressive performance to cap off the night by the varsity as their road trip comes to an end.  They had to battle through a scrappy,  high pressure John Paul side, where patience won out for the Lady Vikings.

At times the Lady Cardinals had 11 players behind the ball and were very organized.  TEAM LVS stuck with their system and chipped away and were rewarded in the 37th minute on a goal by Emma Chandlee.  "I was very proud of the group tonight, we were opportunistic and Emma's goal was key going into halftime," said Lady Vikings head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.

In the second half, Nolan Catholic turned on the pressure a bit more.  The passing was crisp, the speed of the game increased, and more chances resulted for the Vikes.  The Puente twins combined for the 2nd goal and Gwennie fed Gabbie into the box and it was in the back of the net like that.  Then the roles reversed and Gwennie added the 3rd goal for the Lady Vikings.

The Lady Vikings attack was coming from everywhere and like that they were ahead 4-0 as Sarah Brown added the final goal of the night.

The depth on the roster really showed tonight as everyone contributed in another district victory for the Lady Vikings.  "The last 8 goals we have scored have been tremendous, from the build up to the finish," Fitzgerald added.

TEAM LVS returns home for 3 games next week starting with TCA on Monday at 7pm and Ursuline on Thursday at 6:30pm and 8:00pm.  The Lady Vikings will wrap up 2012 playing host to Bishop Dunne on Friday.

Monday, December 3, 2012

LVS continues their road swing at Liberty Tonight

TEAM LVS started their 3 game road string last Tuesday with a 6-0 win at Prestonwood.  Elizabeth Havenhill scored twice while Kathleen Keoughan, Gabbie Puente, Rebecca Traynor, and Erin Hippert each added one.

The varsity will take on Liberty Christian tonight in the 2nd of a 3 game road string.  The kick-off is at 6pm. 

On Friday, the JV and Varsity teams travel to John Paul II, kicking off at 6:00pm and 7:30pm.