By Gene Schallenberg
It was just one of those days.
After playing for more than 70 minutes of physical soccer against Montgomery, a team that matched up evenly with Huntsville, the Lady Hornets felt like they were going to get some points out of Friday’s game.
That turned out not to be the case as Montgomery scored on a penalty kick and defeated Huntsville 2-1 in a second-place showdown.
“I think we both play up for this game,” Huntsville head coach Andrew Stewart said. “Whether one team is better or not, this is a game that we both play physical because we’ve had past experiences and we know what’s going to happen. We just expect it to be a rough game.”
In the waning minutes, the Lady Bears (3-1 in district, 9-3-2 overall) had a breakaway, but the ball had gotten away from Meghan Leitz. Lady Hornets junior goalkeeper Chelsea McCracken charged to make a play on the ball and slid to clear it at the border of the penalty box. Leitz fell over McCracken and was awarded a penalty kick. Leitz calmly booted it into the back of the net.
“I had all ball,” a still frustrated McCracken said. “I don’t know what the ref saw, but I had all ball and I think that was the turning point of our game. If we would’ve got that ball, we wouldn’t have lost. I don’t want to blame it on (the referees), but I knew I had all ball. I had my feet on the ball. I didn’t touch the girl. She fell down and got the ball.”
The Lady Hornets (2-2, 5-7) frantically tried to get an equalizer knowing time was not on their side.
Despite their chances, the Lady Hornets couldn’t get their shots within the goalposts.
“They had a lot of opportunities and so did we,” McCracken said, “we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net ... It’s so hard. It was such a rough game. I thought we were going to pull it through. Just the last couple of minutes killed us.”
The Lady Hornets took a quick lead, scoring in the opening minutes.
After the Lady Bears goalkeeper blocked a shot by Huntsville forward Myra Zavala, a defender attempted to clear the ball, but forward Beatriz Juarez stopped the ball from exiting the penalty box. Juarez blasted a shot to the far post just past the reach of the Montgomery goalkeeper.
Shortly before halftime, the Lady Bears tied the game at 1 when midfielder Alexx Labaume shot from 22 yards away and placed the ball into the upper corner of the goal.
“I thought our girls played great,” Stewart said. “I wish we would’ve got the ball more in control with our forwards instead of playing some kickball. Our forwards were marked well, so that made it hard. They did a better job than past teams have done at marking. They have a quality defense and they stopped us.”
Montgomery boys 2, Huntsville 1
The Hornets were left shaking their heads Friday night after dropping a 2-1 decision at Montgomery in District 40-4A boys soccer action.
Huntsville senior Martin Juarez put the Hornets on top 1-0 midway through the first half, but the Bears answered with a goal late in the first half, then they scored the go-ahead goal in the second half.
“We played well again,” Hornets coach Robert Taylor said. “There really weren’t that many anxious moments, except for the times when the ball was rattling around in the box. They took the lead on a little tap-in goal. When things get crowded in the net, we can’t seem to get those balls away.”
Juarez found the goal on a long free kick in the first half. Montgomery knotted the score at 1 when one of the Bears got a wide-open shot after a throw-in from the side.
“The encouraging part is we were missing five starters tonight,” Taylor said. “Outside of the Brenham game, we’ve been able to move the ball very well. It’s just been tough to keep our balance and effectiveness with some of our guys out.
“It’s a long season, we’ve still got 10 more games. Our guys aren’t hanging their heads. They know with so many opportunities, they must be doing something right.”
Huntsville’s junior varsity boys rallied for a 4-4 tie with the Bears. Goals were scored by Jeremy Klespis, Vladimir Delgado, Andres Zavala and Eduardo Salazar.
The Hornets’ JV team remained unbeaten (3-0-2) on the season and in distirct (2-0-1) play.
