The Brownwood Lady Lions secured at the very least a share of the District 5-4A soccer championship as they completed the home portion of their schedule with 10-0 triumph over the Gatesville Lady Hornets Wednesday at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“These girls came out and played so hard for the eight seniors and I’m so happy this is their last memory at Gordon Wood to go out with,” said Lady Lions head coach Alexis Walker. “Our goal is to get better in the second half of district compared to the first, that’s line we look at, but a lot of emotions go into Senior Night. We wanted to celebrate the seniors but also remember what’s in front of us.”
Regarding clinching a district championship, Walker said, “That’s huge. They love to come to practice and they’re being rewarded for all their work they put in during the summer. This is one of the best summer offseasons we’ve had and that’s a testament to the seniors. They got all the girls working in the summer and because of that I think we’re sitting in this position.”
The Lady Lions (17-3-1, 7-0) recorded five goals in each half and Nylah Hall reclaimed the district lead in goals scored with a “double hat trick” of six Wednesday, matching the school record for a single game previously set by Kenedi Johnson.
“She’s a rock star out there and if you get her the ball she’s going to do good things,” Walker said. “It was a good night for her and us all together as a team. This is the best way we could go into the Stephenville game.”
Hall tallied the first goal a mere 41 seconds into the contest, and the rout was on from there. Brownwood extended the lead to 2-0 just 8:44 into the game as Hall scored again on one of the four assists from Braycee Lee. At the 29 minute mark of the opening half, Lee tallied the first of her two goals, thanks to the first of two assists from Jacklyn Lewis. Hall then tacked on two additional goals before intermission with 6:02 and 5:24 left on the clock.
In the second half, Lee kicked off the next round of scoring with the sixth Brownwood goal just 3:21 after the break. Only 3:23 later, Hall again scored and tacked on her final goal with 26:26 left in regulation. At the 23:25 mark, Nixon Johnson scored on a header off a corner kick from Alma Bernal, and the Lady Lions reached double figures in goals with 20:45 left as Madison Weckwerth found the net with an assist from Kylea Karnes.
Due to an eight-goal mercy rule with 20 minutes left in the contest, the game was called early and the Lady Lions’ celebration began.
Brownwood will conclude the regular season and 5-4A action at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Stephenville with a chance to wrap up the district championship outright. The Lady Lions won a penalty kick shootout after a 1-1 tie in regulation over the Honeybees back on Feb. 18 when the wind chill plummeted to 5 degrees at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“They know what’s on the line Friday and they’ve put themselves in position to be successful, and I pray that they’re rewarded for that Friday,” Walker said. “We have to come out with a little more intensity than we did the first time we played. We have to start on a good foot when we get there. If we can move the ball and find the back of the net we have a good chance to be successful.”