The Brownwood Lady Lions stretched their unbeaten string to six matches as they dominated the Lampasas Lady Badgers, 6-0, Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium in the District 5-4A soccer opener for both squads.
“They played really well tonight and that’s exciting to see,” said Lady Lions head coach Alexis Walker. “I’m excited about the younger players, I’m excited about the seniors, we’re really playing well together and working well together. They’re willing to do what they have to do to put points on the board.”
Brownwood (9-2-1, 1-0) led 2-0 at halftime – with both goals coming from Jacklyn Lewis – and 20 seconds into the second half Lewis completed her hat trick to stake the Lady Lions to a 3-0 lead.
“At the beginning of the game my message to them was we needed a shutout and three points on the board because that’s how our district works,” Walker said. “At halftime it was 2-0 and I told them going into the second half we had to come out with a goal early and 20 seconds in they got the third goal. That’s what you want as a coach, for them to be able to respond to the messages you’re sending. They did that tonight and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they played in the second half.”
Lewis first scored 11:35 into the contest and added her second goal with 4:11 left before halftime.
“Jacklyn Lewis had the had trick for us tonight which is good for us going forward,” Walker said. “She’s a junior forward and we’re looking to get her more playing time and more minutes on the field not only for this year, but to see how we’re going to look next year. Tonight was huge for her confidence, and she plays lights out no matter where I put her on the field. I’m excited for her to be able to step up and be a leader on the field.”
Leading comfortably in the second half, Kynlie Lewis then tacked on a pair of goals with 24:01 to go and again with 7:20 remaining in the contest.
“For Kynlie Lewis to get two goals is also huge for us, with her just being a sophomore,” Walker said. “In this game we were able to get a lot of young kids minutes and she was on the field for maybe five minutes in the second half and scored on a beautiful 1v1 against the goalie. For her to be able to do that just speaks volumes for who she is as a kid. Whenever she steps on the field she does a great job for us.”
Molly Oliver, the leading returning scorer from last year who missed time early with a broken elbow, tacked on the final goal with 3:18 left on the clock.
As for the Lady Lions’ defensive performance, Walker said, “Defense is the strong suit of our team and they work so well together. We had some adversity during the preseason, but they’ve responded well to that. They’re very vocal on the field, Reagan Ratliff is telling everybody where they need to move. I couldn’t be more proud of her and the way she and Sidney Adkins work together. Nixon Johnson and Cate Smith – who is stepping in for us right now while Jasmine Gibbs is out with a dislocated knee – are both sophomores so for them to be able to start and play 80 minutes, these younger girls are doing a great job.”
The Lady Lions visit undefeated Salado (14-0, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, one of two District 5-4A foes to finish ahead of Brownwood in the final district standings a year ago.