Central girls face week that can turn the tide

By Randy Sachs

Special to The Keller Citizen

The district soccer season will hit the halfway point this week, and being in the upper half of the district – and in contention for a playoff spot – is all on the line for Keller Central.

The Lady Chargers, 7-5-1 and 2-3-1 in District 4-5A, were playing Northwest on Tuesday, prior to the print deadline, but will start the second half of the season on Friday when they take on district-leading Carroll.

A win over Northwest could really help push Central into good position, but head coach Ray Martinez knows his team has a tough road ahead.

“Our goal is for improvement in trying to start faster and stay focused,” Martinez said. “We’ve been able to put forth a lot of energy and effort.”

That was evident in their 6-2 win over Haltom on Friday.

Abbie Aldrich and Kristina Schulz have been scoring a lot early on, Martinez said, and against Haltom, “Abbie just turned it on,” scoring three goals.

Another key player for the Lady Chargers has been senior Tessa Woodcock.

“So far, we’ve started slow but have picked it up,” Woodcock acknowledged. “We really need the win (over Northwest) to better position us for the playoffs.”

Senior leadership is critical for Central, which lost 14 seniors from last year’s squad.

“We’ve got a good young group with some returning players,” Martinez said. “Our core group of returning players has been very strong.”

Woodcock said being one of four seniors hasn’t put an undue responsibility on her shoulders.

“We’re like a family, so the differences in age doesn’t really make a difference,” she said.

Martinez knows the strength of the district requires the team to not waste opportunities along the way and makes it important to pick up points in every game.

“Our work ethic is better this year,” added Woodcock. “When we get down, we keep it going and don’t give up.”

The Lady Chargers will need to keep the momentum going through the final stretch of the first round of games and into the second.

“We’ve been fighting in every game, including the Keller, Timber Creek and Carroll games,” Martinez said of the games lost to the top teams in the district.

“Our last three games – Richland, a tie with Fossil Ridge and Haltom – have been good outings for us,” Martinez said.

“We needed to get three of four wins to stay in the hunt,” he said of the current stretch, having already gone 2-0-1 in the three games thus far.

After the Carroll game at Southlake on Friday, Central jumps back into the district’s teeth again playing host to Keller on Tuesday.

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