While the overall record may not look pretty (4-13-3), Northwest girls soccer coach Lincoln Hunt continues to build a culture with this program.
That takes some time, but the foundation is yielding some results. Northwest entered the week at 4-5-1 in District 4-5A play and in the middle of the battle for fourth place with Keller Central and Richland. Each contender had 12 or 13 points going into Friday’s action. The district had a bye on Tuesday. Carroll led the race, followed by Keller and Keller Timber Creek.This is kind of how the 2012 season unfolded. The Lady Texans took some punishment in the non-district season but found the means to get into the playoff race and sneak into the postseason as the No. 4 seed.Do the math and you’ll note that Northwest did not collect a win during the non-district season. But that doesn’t matter to Hunt. Results during the district season do.“We played a tough schedule to get ready for the district season,” Hunt said. “We played teams that we thought that we were about as good as or a little better. I feel like we accomplished a lot. We have to look at what we did helped us. We have a lot of seniors on this team so they understand.”Offensively, the Lady Texans have been led by senior center midfielders Rachel Riggs and Caren Stuebe. The two have been the most active players and kept the offense flowing. Riggs scored twice in the first meeting against Haltom – a Northwest 2-1 win – and then each scored in the second 2-1 win over Haltom.Defensively, seniors Brianna Johnson and Taylor Hamilton have anchored the back line. Hunt considers each a strong positional player and likes their toughness.What helps is that Northwest has been pretty healthy this season. But Hunt knows that the final four games against Carroll on Friday, Keller Timber Creek on Monday and then Richland on March 19 and Keller Central on March 22 will tell the story.He’d like to find points in the first two matchups because they are against district leaders. It will be critical to beat Richland and Central.“If we don’t win those [Richland and Central], that’s pretty much it,” Hunt said.Not a fanDistrict 4-5A coaches had a lot of open time for the schedule and used Tuesday for the bye. That comes a week before spring break. Although there will be games on Friday and Monday, there will be more down time due to spring break. Teams will play only two games in the first 19 days of the month.“I’m not a huge fan of it,” Hunt said. “For teams, you need to keep your edge. It’s hard to do that. But from the kids’ perspective, the recovery time may be important.”Nelson girls poised to clinchThe Lady Bobcats (19-1-1, 5-1 in 11-4A) won their only scheduled game last week, a 3-0 victory over Lake Dallas as the second half of the district season began.They should clinch a playoff berth this week. But the first one was the tough one, Tuesday at district leader Denton Guyer. Nelson lost the first meeting, 4-1. The Lady Bobcats play Denton Friday at home.The good news is that senior forward Rachelle Davis returned to the lineup after missing the last two weeks with a concussion. Coach Phillip Salyer said he was pleased how Davis played.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
