The Brownwood Lady Lions reached double-digits in the win column, and finally picked up their first victory at Gordon Wood Stadium Tuesday, with a 4-0 home triumph over the Alvarado Lady Indians.
“It took us a little bit, but this is a testament to them,” said Lady Lions head coach Alexis Walker. “They never give up, they keep fighting every day and I’m glad they finally got rewarded at their house. When we turn ‘me’ into ‘we,’ we play a lot better and that’s what they did tonight. They were unselfish and played for each other and that resulted in a win.”
The Lady Lions (10-2) have now outscored their opponents 50-4 this season with nine shutouts.
“That’s awesome because at the end of last season we were having trouble finishing the ball,” Walker said of the early season offensive onslaught. “Going into this season I was concerned about not doing that again, but working with them day in and day out I tell them you have the potential to do this, you just have to go put your foot on the ball. I believe they believe that now, but it took them a little bit to do that.”
Tuesday’s first goal was far from characteristic, however, as the Alvarado goal keeper was attempting to clear the ball from directly in front of her goal. Madison Weckwerth lunged in front of the goal keeper’s kick just as the ball left her foot, the ball then deflected off Weckwerth’s leg and back into the net for Brownwood’s first goal with a 13:25 left in the first half.
Just two minutes later, Alma Bernal scored the first of her two goals as she raced past the Alvarado defense with an assist from Isabella Garza, maneuvered around the Lady Indian goal keeper, and made the score 2-0 with 11:25 remaining before intermission.
“Alma’s a workhorse for us out there and she’s not always rewarded for it in goals, she has a lot of assists, but tonight she was rewarded with two of them,” Walker said.
Leading 2-0 at the break, the Lady Lions tacked on two more goals in the first five minutes of the second half for the final four-goal margin.
First, Braycee Lee scored with an assist from Kynlie Lewis just 1:17 into the second half, then Lewis assisted Bernal’s second goal a mere 4:50 after halftime.
“I told them at halftime our plan going forward was to put more points on the board in the second half than we did the first, and we scored twice in the first five minutes, and then to get out of there with the shutout,” Walker said.
Noemi Ceniceros recorded the shutout in goal for Brownwood, which is back in at Fredericksburg at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the first game of a doubleheader as the Lions (3-4-1) will follow at 7:30 p.m.