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Houston Kick-Off Soccer Magazine

May - 2009 Page 3

High School Follow Up
Written by Gina Ciancone

After winning their respective regions, Houston-based high school girls teams from Clear Lake and The Woodlands in 5A and Friendswood in 4A, and boys teams from Katy and Klein Oak in 5A moved on to compete in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Competition. There, they joined other Texas high school squads to play for the title of state victor.

Clear Lake made it to the State Semi-Finals against The Woodlands, which won the match 2-0. The first goal was scored by Woodlands junior, Kylie Cook, from outside the 18 yard box with an assist from Sarah Ellis.

"[Cook] scored from really far out,” Clear Lake junior and attacker Mika Tabata said. “We were all really surprised because no one was expecting it."

After Cook’s goal, Clear Lake aimed to remain calm and maintain composure as they entered the second half.

"We tried to play it safe for a while," Clear Lake junior and midfielder Stephanie Suarez said. "The competition was definitely not over our heads; we could compete with The Woodlands."

Although the 2-0 victory was a solid win for The Woodlands, Clear Lake tried to come back during the second half by playing strong and not giving up. However, The Woodland’s defense maintained their lead. After Kelsey Bass scored the second goal for The Woodlands, time was also running out.

"We came out with more intensity", The Woodlands Head Coach Dina Graves said. "My kids were really focused."

After making it to the State Competition Semi-Finals for the second consecutive year, Clear Lake hopes to return to the State tournament next year.

"Even though we are losing key players who are graduating, I know we can be just as strong next year", Tabata said.

The Woodlands moved on to compete with Coppell HS from Dallas in the State Finals. Despite The Woodland’s loss by a score of 3-2, the game was evenly matched in both athletic skills and intensity.

"It could have gone either way", junior Kylie Cook said. "We had a corner kick the last 19 seconds of the game [when the score was 3-2] that just went wide."

Cook, who will be attending the University of Houston, admits that it was a rallying match. The lead moved back and forth between the two teams throughout the game, adding to the suspense and intensity.

Six minutes into the first half Coppell scored and maintained the lead until the first two minutes of the second half, when The Woodland’s Cook scored to tie the match. After Cook’s goal, both Coppell and The Woodlands scored one more goal each to uphold the tie. However, Coppell obtained the third and winning goal six minutes until the end of the match.

"Coppell had a lot of speed and put pressure on the midfield", Coach Graves said.

Kylie Cook of The Woodlands

"We were adamant about just playing our game. We played to win, we didn’t play to tie. Going out playing our game was more important to us than playing a different style and tying".

Although the teams were squarely matched, Coppell’s arrangement and positioning affected The Woodlands’ response.

"Coppell dropped their sweeper back 20 yards so there was a huge gap," Coach Graves said. "We tried some new positioning to work through those issues. It was a hard fought match because it was the kind of game people enjoyed watching. It was definitely a memorable experience." more...

May
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