Saturday, February 7, 2015

LVS closes out district play with a win; JV Championships

The Nolan Catholic Women's Soccer team completed district play on Thursday night with a 2-1 comeback win over Ursuline.  The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of play and the Lady Vikings responded with grit and determination.  Going down a goal was exactly what the Lady Vikings needed.  "We started strong, made a couple of mistakes and found ourselves in a hole," said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.

The Lady Vikings were able to gain the momentum back for most of the half but the game continued to be back and forth.  Both teams were creating chances but with 9 to play in the half, LVS forward, Emily Keoughan took an entry pass behind the line and was taken down by the Bears goalkeeper which resulted in a foul and a send off.

Fitzgerald mentioned, "we responded to every circumstance very well tonight."

The Lady Vikings took their man advantage into the second half and were able to equalize on a Gabbie Puente goal with a little more than 20 to play.  Regan Hafer was able to capitalize off a corner that was headed back into the mix from Marissa Baldasti.

With a 2-1 lead and the clock winding down the Lady Vikings were relentless with their defending as a solid Ursuline team wasn't going to let the game end without a fight.

Nolan Catholic, goalkeeper Piper Head was fearless, cleaning up everything that came into her box; the backline was consistent and the midfield didn't give any of the Bears attackers much room on the ball.

"Tonight was a true Nolan Catholic community victory; everyone that came out tonight played a role in our result," Fitzgerald said.

The Lady Vikings improve to 20-5-0 and 13-3-0 in district play.  With 2 more regular season, non-district matches left this week, the Lady Vikings learn their seeding going into the post-season after the remaining TAPPS 1-5A matches are completed on Monday.

Senior night is Tuesday at 7pm against HSAA and then the Vikings host St. Stephens on Friday at 4pm.

The JV will take their #2 seed into the playoffs.  The TAPPS JV Championships will be played at Doskocil Stadium on Wednesday, Feb. 11th.  The first game between the #1 & #4 seeds will kick-off at 11:00am with the #2 seeded Lady Vikings taking on the #4 seed at 12:30pm.  The championship will be at 6:00pm.  The Lady Vikings were back to back champions in 2011 & 2012.

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