Caprock girls avenge tournament loss to Palo Duro with huge 2-1 district win
When the Caprock and Palo Duro girls soccer teams played one another in early January at the WT Freeze Tournament, PD came away with an impressive 3-0 victory.
Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium, however, it was a whole different story.
Caprock's backline and midfield dominated the Palo Duro attack and Sabrina Matta led the offense to an impressive showing as the Lady Longhorns got revenge and picked up a critical 2-1 win over the Lady Dons in District 3-5A action.
It was a flipped script from the WT Tournament as the Lady Longhorns maintained most of the possession time in the opening 20 minutes, while the defense was smothering. Any through balls that PD attempted down the field were intercepted by Caprock — save a first-half goal by Brenda Zepada Aguilar.
That goal came after Mata's goal on an assist by Nereida Porras earlier on to tie the match and remained 1-1 entering halftime.
But in the second half, Caprock's offense hit the accelerator with Mata setting up Nevaeh Valdez for a shot from roughly 30 yards out to put the Lady Longhorns back up. The defense did the rest as Caprock moved to 7-6 on the year.
"I think this was just a testament to the team," Caprock head coach Mark Smith said. "They watched the film from the first game and just ran with it. They never abandoned (the plan) the whole game. Even though we defended most of it they stuck with it and came out on top.
With the loss, PD is 7-5-3 on the year.
Caprock moves ahead of a very talented PD squad in the district standings. They'll have to face off once again this year, but Smith and company know how big of a momentum boost this is.
"We've been struggling early with some of the tournaments we've been playing," Smith said. "We've been playing some tough opponents so we needed this little boost. ... I liked our constant pressure on the ball, but we still have to improve on our possession. It was nice to see Neveah finish a shot and Sabrina break loose on the first one. I can't complain overall."
More: GIRLS SOCCER: Caprock vs. Palo Duro
More: UIL Realignment 2024: Breaking down what all the movement means for Panhandle schools
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Caprock girls avenge tournament loss to Palo Duro with district win
