The Hays Lady Rebels took a 1-1 game when Westlake hit a goal late in the second half to tie up the score.
The Rebels didn’t get the start they were looking for at the beginning of the match with Westlake constantly playing through balls to get around the Rebel defense.
Once the Rebels started to play their game, the ball was kept in the middle of the field with both teams looking for their break.
Off a corner kick that went across the goal in the 15th minute, junior Zoe Briceño shot the ball and put it in the lower left corner of the net, taking the lead over Westlake 1-0.
After the goal, Westlake began to speed up its play and took any shot that came their way. Making more passes and opening up for quick plays, the Chaparrals were not slowing down.
The Rebel defense was tested toward the end of the first half with several close calls, but the Hays goalie wasn’t letting anything in her goal.
At the start of the second half, the Rebels were playing more aggressively trying to add to their lead. Hays had more quick plays and passes to try to work past the Westlake defense.
In the 26th minute of the second half, a Westlake forward took on the Rebel defense. With the ball moving closer into the box the Rebel goalie came out to help, but Westlake got the shot off behind the goalie to tie the game 1-1.
Briceño said despite not getting the win, she is proud of how the team played against the first-place district team.
“I think we did really good, we played aggressive, talked more and wanted the ball,” Briceño said.
Rebels head coach Brent Holcomb said his team did a lot better in the second half than in the first and it showed.
“Our passing got a lot crisper in the second half which we needed. The first half passes weren’t real crisp and weren’t always targeted to where we needed them to be,” Holcomb said. “We kind of let them dictate our pass quality in the first half, but I think we found more passing shape in the second half.”
The last time these two teams faced off, Westlake took the win from the Rebels 4-0. There was much improvement from the Rebels and they played together as a team.
Holcomb said his team was prepared for the offensive push from the Chaparrals and were ready to be aggressive.
“With a team that’s so offensive-minded like them, very fast and they shoot fast and from distance, instinctively you want to play more defensively,” Holcomb said. “We have been stressing our offense so we actually played with less defense and more offense. As cheesy as it sounds, sometimes more offense is good defense.”
The Rebels return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Lehman at Lobo Field
