Grapevine’s pursuit of a fifth district girls soccer championship in six seasons is proceeding the way coach Ryan Davis had hoped.
The Lady Mustangs (10-4-4, 7-0 in 6-5A) handled last week without surrendering a goal as they defeated Irving MacArthur, 1-0, and Irving Nimitz, 3-0. Sophomore forward Haley Bargery had the big week with a pair of goals, one in each game. Marissa Morin and Tori Sledge were the other goal scorers.And then there’s that streak.Those wins stretched the program’s undefeated streak to 29 games dating back to the 2011 season. The Lady Mustangs won their last six games in 2011, went 15-0-1 in 2012 and were undefeated going into Tuesday’s game at Hurst L.D. Bell.“We expected to contend for district,” Davis said. “They’re organized and work very hard. They’re one of my favorite teams. I love their mentality that they are going to try and outwork every team. They are skilled and talented, yes. Sometimes, the talent doesn’t win because it doesn’t work hard. This one does.”Davis has had to rely on some freshmen and sophomores to lead his team. It’s not been uncommon to see as many as eight on the field at once. Bargery has scored in three consecutive games. Freshman forward Sarah Flynn has been productive.As the week began, Grapevine led Euless Trinity by one game. The Lady Trojans were 6-1. Carrollton R.L. Turner was in third at 4-3.Grapevine then plays GCISD rival Colleyville Heritage on Friday at Mustang-Panther Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.The glueBecause he plays a 4-3-3, Davis needed to find a player who could handle the center forward position. While he auditioned candidates, he turned to a veteran in senior Kendall Vardell. A three-year starter at midfield, the move has kept the Grapevine offense in sync.“She’s just settled what we want to do,” Davis said. “Haley and Sarah really react to her. She’s smart and knows when to turn it, hold it and then cycle it through the midfield.”Lady Panthers gaining momentumColleyville Heritage (3-7-6, 2-2-3) put itself in a better position following arguably its best week of the season.The Lady Panthers defeated then-district title contender Carrollton R.L. Turner, 3-0, on Feb. 19 and then tied L.D. Bell, 1-1, last Friday. Head coach Misail Tsapos missed that game because of a family emergency.“They were disciplined and businesslike,” Tsapos said of the win over Turner. “We were mistake-free. We did not give the ball (away) in bad parts of the field. When we were on defense, we had numbers to defend. When we were on the attack, we had numbers.”This week presents a great challenge against the district leaders. The Lady Panthers played against Euless Trinity on Tuesday and then face Grapevine on Friday.The week began with Colleyville Heritage in fourth place with nine points behind Grapevine (21), Trinity (18) and Turner (12). Irving High was in fifth with eight points.“We didn’t know much about Trinity the first time we played them because they were in the tournaments in Arlington,” Tsapos said. “Hopefully, we learned from that. But we’re not going to make this a do-or-die situation.”Tsapos has also been putting his faith in sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Hodges. Hodges has surrendered eight goals in district play but six came in the first two matches against Trinity and Grapevine. Hodges saw some varsity time in 2012.“She’s much more mature than what she was last year,” Tsapos said. “She reads the game better and makes a lot of quality saves. Last year, she had some maturity things that came up like letting the ball bounce at the wrong, throwing it to the wrong player and punting it and it not going anywhere. But you can see how much her confidence has come up in recent games.”Thanks but no thanks, DadTsapos’ daughter Katina could have played for him this year. She’s a freshman. But since the family lives in the Northwest school district, Tsapos and his family weighed all the pros and cons and let her make the choice. Katina enrolled at Byron Nelson. Nelson was in the Class 4A state championship game last year and has a chance to return.“I’m a terrible recruiter,” Tsapos joked. “But I want her to be happy. I like [Nelson coach] Phillip Salyer. He’s good with her. That’s a team that has a chance. She’s a really good player.”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
