Monday, November 27, 2017

LVS host district play this week

The Lady Vikings return from break to take on Bishop Lynch at home tonight at 6:00pm and 7:45pm.  Just over a week ago Nolan Catholic took to the road defeating TCA 3-1 the Friday before Thanksgiving Break.

In the meantime, several Lady Vikings competed in college showcases locally and at the Disney Showcase in Orlando getting looks by college coaches all around the country.

Not short of competition, the Lady Vikings take their 2-1-0 record into tonights district matchup.  #lvsLIVE @NCHSmedia will broadcast TONIGHT'S varsity match in case some can't make it out.  CLICK HERE for the link to the broadcast.

LVS Head Coach, Jay Fitzgerald said, "The break was good for us for sure as most continued to play and should pick off right where we left off with a near perfect performance against TCA before the break."

Doskocil Stadium will come alive again at the end of the week, on Friday, hosting Parish Episcopal in just a varsity match kicking off at 6:00pm.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Winning on the road; Aggressive start

The Lady Vikings traveled to TCA on Friday night and headed home with 3 points.  Young and old teamed up for the 3 goals on the evening.  In the 6th minute Abby Geiser took care of a Megan Bettinger corner kick heading home the games first goal.  The pressure remained on the TCA goal as Mikaela Gamboa knifed across the box and was taken down just outside the 18.  Bettinger slotted home a free kick through well timed runs through the 18 to double the Lady Viking lead in the 16th minute.  With under 10 minutes to play in the half, Geiser and Bettinger teamed up for another goal giving the Lady Vikings a 3-0 halftime lead.

Jay Fitzgerald, LVS Head Coach on the strong start...
We hadn't played a game for over a week and the start tonight was as close to perfect as I could ask for.  Our movement was flawless, we were all on the same page, and we executed when we needed to on both sides of the ball.

Alyssa Clinkscales on the physical team performance...
We started out really aggressive and were aggressive throughout the entire game.  We made really smart decisions and we just have to grind it out all the way to the end.

The second half was no different for the Lady Vikings as game got better and just 8 minutes into the second half, were able to find the back of the net again on a 6 pass counter that was disallowed due to an offsides decision.

Fitzgerald on the second half...
The rhythm of the game was a bit broken up by several whistles but we responded very well defensively to the restarts.  Overall from attacking to defense we were solid.  From our GK to our front players we were a unit.

The Lady Vikings pride themselves on being proactive and on Friday night they were accountable in just about every function of the game.

TCA was able to get on the board with 16 seconds to play in the game.

The Lady Vikings move to 2-1-0 on the season and take on Bishop Lynch at home the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Intersquad Scrimmage Thursday; District on Friday

The Lady Vikings will be traveling to Trinity Valley on Thursday afternoon for a closed, inter-squad scrimmage against the Lady Trojans.  Both teams will train for about an hour before they end with a one half scrimmage to kick-off around 4:20pm.

With a mark of 1-1-0, coming off a loss to Ursuline over a week ago, the Lady Vikings look to get back on the field in preparation for hitting the road on Friday at TCA.  The JV will kick the night off at 5:30pm and the varsity at 7:00pm.

LVS Head Coach, Jay Fitzgerald 
On the Inter-Squad Scrimmage
The scrimmage on Thursday against Trinity Valley will be unique as we will get an opportunity to be a part of something a bit different.  We love when our players are able to get out of their comfort zone a bit.  Mixing up the environment a bit allows us to focus a bit more.

On the week of training
This week coupled with our identity week last week, has been eye opening for many of our players regarding our style of play.  The understanding and awareness is catching on quickly.

The Lady Vikings will hit the road for the first time this season taking on TCA on Friday.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Nolan Catholic drops home match to Ursuline

The Lady Vikings were handed 2 loses on Monday night as they played host to Ursuline Academy.  The JV surrendered 7 goals to the Lady Bears while the Varsity was also shutout 4-0.

Head Coach, Jay Fitzgerald on the losses
We definitely got knocked in the chin last night but we are confident in our teams and will come back stronger.  With a lot of young players in our program, they learned a lot about the rivalry between the two programs and now have a taste for what it is like.

Fitzgerald and JV coach, Lane Anderson were extremely happy with the final 15 minutes of the JV game, seeing the potential this young group has.

There is more of an understanding now on the quality of high school soccer that takes the field from the 2 schools but also across area.  High school soccer in Texas is comparable to club soccer in many aspects.  "We are able to put our players in an environment where there is an amazing challenge but also lead them through a development pathway regarding game understanding and roles and responsibilities," commented Fitzgerald.  As taught through the mission of the program, there is an education of life through soccer.

The Lady Vikings JV team is 0-1-0 on the season while the varsity drop to 1-1-0.

The varsity team were down 2-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game and surrendered 2 late goals before halftime before they could regroup and play the level of soccer that is expected at Nolan Catholic.

The match was back and forth in the second half, turning into the expected physical and emotional competition that these two school bring each time they meet up.  The Lady Vikings were unable to get on the board when the Lady Bears, goalkeeper made a fantastic stop on the Megan Bettinger penalty kick that kept the Lady Vikings off the board.

The Lady Vikings will have to wait until Friday, November 17th to get back on the field as they take to the road the first time this season to take on TCA at 5:00pm (JV) and 6:30pm (Varsity).  The saga of the #lvsSweaterVest continues.


Sunday, November 5, 2017

Lady Vikings host Ursuline on Monday

The Lady Vikings return home on Monday night to take on the Lady Bears from Ursuline with the JV kicking off the night at 6:00pm and the varsity following at 7:45pm.  The varsity match will be broadcast LIVE presented by @NCHSmedia.  Link will be updated @nolansoccer and @NCHSmedia on Twitter.

Wrapping up the pre-season last Monday with a 5-1 win over Grapevine Faith and then a 12-0 district opener win over Dunne, nine different LVSers got on the scoresheet on Thursday.

Senior, Megan Bettinger led the way with 4 goals while freshman, Abby Geiser added 2 of her own plus 2 assists.  Sophomore, Katherine Gilpin put away 2 goals as well.  Mikaela Gamboa, Alyssa Clinkscales, Meghan Kittleson, and Maggie Tepera all scored one a piece on the evening.  Goalkeeper, Avery Boley recorded her first varsity shutout.

"Our young players are being brought up well in our program," said LVS head coach, Jay Fitzgerald.

With a single game this week, the Lady Vikings have several players heading to Phoenix for the first National Event for the ECNL this season.