by MARK CAUL
Moriah Gallegos and the Lehman girls soccer team tied Wimberley 1-1 in a tough battle last week. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
Minutes after his team emerged from yet another rough-and-tumble affair with Wimberley, Lehman head girls soccer coach Nauri Garcia could only shake his head and smile at his team’s good fortune.
“You could really tell that both teams wanted to win badly because both teams played extremely hard,” Garcia said. “It was definitely an exciting game to be a part of because it was so heated. We were very fortunate because they outshot us and they had a lot of opportunities to score but our defense was outstanding.”
Brenda Murillo led a Lady Lobos defense that held down the Lady Texans for much of the game while her twin sister Valerie scored the tying goal for Lehman on a sizzling pass from Jasmine Rodriguez to knot the score at 1-1.
Senior Dominique Jaquez put the Lady Lobos ahead early in the second half as she buried a free kick from long distance to give Lehman a 2-1 lead.
“It was another one of Domino’s big-time plays where she just got a good shot towards the goal and it went in,” Garcia said. “She’s pretty disappointed about not being able to finish her career at Lehman in the playoffs, but she’s really played well and I know she wants to give it all she has in these last couple of games.”
With Lehman clinging to a slim one-goal lead, the Lady Texans took advantage of a penalty near the Lady Lobo goal and Wimberley senior forward Isabelle Keddy-Hector booted the tying goal through on a corner kick with about fifteen minutes left in the game.
Wimberley won the first matchup 2-1 earlier in the season after the two teams had a pair of ties last season.
“It’s just been one of those years where we have been really close to winning but we just have something unfortunate happen that gives our opponent a chance to beat us,” said Garcia. “Wimberley has always been a team we seem to have trouble with because they match up so well with us. But our girls have fought hard all year and we have made a lot of progress into becoming a great team for years to come.”
The Lady Lobos will close out their season with home games against Canyon Lake and Seguin.
