The Lady Chaps Soccer team faced off with the three-time state champion Celina Lady Bobcats on Feb. 14, with the Lady Bobcats taking the win 7-1.
The Lady Chaps kept things close until midway through the first half when the Lady Bobcats’ offense started rolling and eventually ran away with the match.
“It’s hard when you come out and play a really good first half and then you make a handful of mistakes at the beginning of the second half and it gets out of hand,” head girls soccer coach Kelli Baker said. “Celina is a phenomenal team …, [but] we had great effort all the way through, even when we fell behind. The fight in our girls was great.”
Celina dominated the time of possession, but Aubrey’s defense kept the Lady Bobcats at bay most of the first half, despite missing multiple starters because of injuries and illness.
Twenty minutes into the first half, the Lady Bobcats’ offense finally found the back of the net for the game’s first point to take a 1-0 lead.
Celina scored again before the end of the half, sending the two teams into the break with the Lady Bobcats leading 2-0.
The Lady Bobcats continued their offensive barrage in the second half, opening the second period with two goals and extending their lead to 4-0.
Lady Chaps junior forward Brynnlee Bohannon scored Aubrey’s only point in the match on a penalty kick midway through the second half, making the score 4-1.
Celina’s offense refused to let up, continuing to pour on the points and closing out the match with a 3-0 run to take the 7-1 win.
“They have people that have good touches, and we struggle when the ball gets out into the wide areas, and that’s where they excel,” Baker said. “We’re not very big, and we didn’t have all of our players [available]. We had people out and some playing positions they don’t normally play, so we aren’t great when people swing the ball in from wide areas, and [Celina] was great at it tonight.”
Despite the loss against a close rival, which brings the Lady Chaps’ district record to 4-3, Baker said his message to the team emphasized staying focused on the road ahead.
“I told them, ‘hold your heads up, we have to go out and win a couple of games next week,’” he said. “… We have Bonham on Tuesday, and then we have Farmersville next Saturday, and those are must-win, winnable games, so from here on out, if we beat the teams, we should win against we can finish where we want to at the end of the season.”
