Return from spring break signals clutch time in high school soccer

Bees will be judged by month ahead, not success of months behind

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Coach Weil and Stephenville will judge their soccer season over the next month, even though the action leading up to spring break produced 19 queen sheets, 20 wins and a 13-match win streak. || The Flash Today photo by BRAD KEITH

By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (March 17, 2018) — For all No. 3 Stephenville (20-2) has accomplished to this point of their vastly successful season, which now includes 13 straight wins with clean sheets in 12 of those matches, they reigning state champion Stephenville girls will forever be judged based on what happens after spring break, not before.

It’s a blessing and a curse, being the champs.

No longer is just getting to the post season good enough. Any loss, it seems , is a huge disappointment. But that is the mantle Stephenville spent 10 seasons striving to ascertain, and so now they deal with the pressure that comes with taking over that high spot.

And in high school soccer, the pressure starts now.

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Stephenville has two games remaining. Win one and they secure the first outright district championship in school history. They have already clinched the No. 1 seed for the second time, and are also trying to complete their first undefeated district season.

The Bees will be widely viewed as a lock to get through the opening two rounds of the state playoffs. Of course, Virginia was a lock to win as a No. 1 seed against Maryland-Baltimore County, a No. 16 seed, in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, and you had to have hidden under a rock since last night to not know how that turned out.

The Bees have allowed four goals all season, three in open play. Controlling balls in the midfield and offensive endhas paired with the terrific play of defenseman Beatris Chavarria alongside Cody Hawks, Courtney Langley and the speedy Mady Heupel keep there from being much pressure on goal keepers Alyssa Northcutt and Mady Wyly, who have split half a game each since Wyly’s return from a knee injury.

The bulk of Conference 4A improve in goal with Northcutt or Wyly, while the Bees have Northcutt and Wyly.

Let’s say Stephenville avoids pulling a Virginia and neither of their initial two playoff opponents pull a UMBC. Things figure to get testy in round three, quite possibly against a district opponent that, quite frankly, will be sick and tired of losing to Stephenville.

Then comes the regional and state tournaments.

Surely no one following Honeybee soccer, even circumventually, has forgotten how dramatic the regional rounds were a year ago. Melissa scored first and Stephenville came back with a penalty in the 72nd minute then a Haliegh Beam corner into the danger zone that deflected of a Melissa player into  the net for an own goal in the 80th minute.

And that was just the semifinal.

Kennedale is not the same team this year but somebody – Midlothian Heritage is one candidate, Arglye another, and Celina a third – will step up if the Lady Kats are not there. Last year Kennedale hit a post and twice found the cross bar, and Stephenville just missed on a couple opportunities, too. Even after overtime there were no goals, and then Stephenville won on penalties to claimed the regional title.

And while the 4A soccer championship has gone twice to Kenneale and once to Stephenville since its breaking away from the 5A ranks, this year, unless they are knocked off next week Liberty Hill of Region IV will enter the playoffs ranked No. 1 by the Texas Girls Coaches Association.

Stephenville has reached 20 wins in 22 matches, turning in clean sheets in 19 of them. But it will be the (up to if they reach the state final) nine matches ahead that determine how this Honeybee team is perceived.

No doubt it’s been a fantastic year, but with 19 players back from a state title team, expectations are for more.

That may not be fair, but hence is the life of a champion. Hence is the life of the Honeybees between now and the state tournament the second week in April.

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