Kennedale LadyKat Soccer has moved into the region playoffs for the third straight season after beating Midlothian Heritage Monday, 2-1, in a region quarterfinal match-up. {{more: CONTINUE…}}
GAME UPDATES:
Monday, April 3 Reg Q-final: Kennedale vs Midlothian Heritage 2-1 (W)
Midlothian Heritage posed a serious challenge to Kennedale. This was a good team and their record was proof. With this loss to Kennedale, Midlothian Heritage ended the season with a 21-4-3 record over-all and a clean 8-0 district record. They started the season unranked, but, managed to work up to one of the top 10 teams in Class 4A.
Bailey Crowley (l) battling for the ball got the assist on the game winning goal (Photo: Staci Otts)
In this game, the #1 LadyKats faced an unusual situation for them, they were behind. Heritage had scored the first goal at the 15 minute mark in the first half of play. It took another 10 minutes for Kennedale to find the right combination and it came with an assist by Hanna Biles (Fr) to Eryka McIntyre (So). The score stayed knotted until just under 10 minutes left in the game when Bailey Crowley (Jr) found McIntyre again in position. The two goals by McIntyre were enough for Kennedale as they fended off Heritage to move on in the playoffs
Goaltender Sara Calzada (Sr) successfully defended 4 of 5 shots on goal.
The surprise of the playoffs have been the success of Mineral Wells, who seems to have found the silver slipper. Mineral Wells, a fourth seed from District 4-4A, comes into the Region 1 semifinal game with a 12-11-1 record. They are not supposed to be here, but don?t tell them that.
Strong defensive play has helped the Kats all year, goaltender Sara Calzada stopped 4 SOG Monday (Photo: Staci
Otts)
There are only four teams in 4-4A, so every team was guaranteed a playoff spot. Mineral Wells finished at 1-8. That being said, District 4-4A is a strong district. It is composed of Abilene Wylie, which just finished their season at 19-4-2 and started the year as the #1 team according to TASC0. Wylie remained at #1 or #2 all season depending on the poll. Stephenville finished at #2 in the district with a record of 21-4-0 and Brownwood followed at # 3 (11-12-0). All four teams made it to the region quarterfinals this past week. Stephenville defeated Brownwood 3-0 this week in the region quarterfinals while Mineral Wells was upsetting Wylie 1-0.
Mineral Wells crashes the party ?
It was Mineral Wells, the forgotten fourth team in the district that upset the state leader Wylie 1-0 on Monday. Wylie and Mineral Wells had faced each other three times in district play and Wylie had always won until Monday. Maybe, four is the lucky number. This will be Mineral Wells first region semifinal game ever.
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| LadyKats celebrate in
Heritage win but now must face a surprising cinderella in Mineral Wells (Photo: Staci Otts) |
How they got here ?
Mineral Wells first playoff win this year came against Wichita Falls Hirschi, who came in as a #1 seed from District 3-4A but with a losing record. Mineral Wells won 3-0. In area round play, Mineral Wells defeated Pampa 2-0. Pampa was runner-up in District 2-3A with a record of 10-13-1. Then came the 1-0 win against Wylie.
Common opponents with Kennedale ?
In common opponents, Kennedale beat Wylie 1-0 in their only game this season. Mineral Wells lost to Argyle 3-0 while Kennedale forged a 2-2 tie. Mineral Wells lost to Midlothian Heritage 3-0 while the Kats won 1-0. Both Mineral Wells and Kennedale beat Life Oak Cliff 4-0 and 12-1 respectively. Mineral beat Springtown 6-1 and Kennedale won 2 games against Springtown 11-0 and 11-0.
Playoff notes ?
- The other region semifinal game at Birdville Athletic Complex pits #8 Stephenville (21-4-0) against Melissa (11-3-1) with the winner playing the winner of #1 Kennedale vs Mineral Wells on Saturday at 1 pm at the Birdville complex.
- Of the 4A teams ranked in the top ten at the beginning of the season in two different polls, five remain in the playoffs in the other 3 region semifinal games. Remaining teams along with their early season rank: Kennedale (#2); Jasper (#3); Boerne (#7), Mabank (#9) and Rockport (#10).
- Jasper and Kennedale played for the state championship last year with Kennedale winning 6-0.
Girls Soccer UIL Reg 1-3 Playoffs Bracket
