Lady Dragons carrying momentum into first round of playoffs

You could say that Carroll pretty much breezed through the final week of the regular season. The Lady Dragons soccer team routed Haltom and Hurst L.D. Bell by 8-0 and 3-0 scores respectively to take a little momentum into the postseason.

Carroll (19-2-2, 10-1-1 in District 7-6A) faces Mansfield in the 6A Region I bi-district playoff at 6 p.m. at Fort Worth Nolan.

“It was a good week,” head coach Matt Colvin said. “Everything that we did wasn’t too bad. I don’t think there was anything in either game that stuck with what we want to do getting ready for the playoffs. But really for us, the mindset we developed during our training turned up a notch. That was nice to see going into the last week of the season.”

But that’s just what comes with the territory when it comes to this program that is trying to win its second state championship in school history. Throughout the years, Carroll players know when it’s time to create a different mindset, a different work ethic and a different intensity.

Colvin said he’s noticed those elements rise within the last five years when the team has returned from spring break. The Monday after signals that the urgency to perform is required. But that’s what championship caliber programs do.

“For the last four weeks, you see players working different things after workouts,” he said. “They’re either doing back line work or serving balls from different angles. It’s a lot of repetition work. They understand what they need to do.”

If there was a disappointment, Colvin had to play his starters in the L.D. Bell game longer than he wanted. However, this team does have a week between games. Plus, there are several players who are in the middle of club seasons. So they are already in pretty good condition.

“It’s hard to emulate anything for the playoffs,” Colvin said. “We just have to get them into the same environment and get them to work together. When you’re playing a game, it’s a totally different thing.”

Looking ahead

Colvin said he watched Mansfield, the third-place team in District 8-6A, against Cedar Hill and came away impressed with its forwards. The Lady Tigers also feature a pretty talented center midfielder in Hannah Webb. Carroll will go into this game as the heavy favorite. However, Colvin said overconfidence cannot happen.

“It’s a situation where we can’t go in thinking anything is going to be easy,” he said. “This is the playoffs. Everything is going to be hard. We have to push ourselves.”

Should Carroll advance, it would meet the winner of Lewisville Hebron-Keller Timber Creek. And to serve as a reminder how deep Region I is, Hebron is the defending state champion.

“I think this team has to keep the same attitude,” Colvin said. “Whether you’re a player who plays 80 minutes or don’t get a lot of time, you have to be ready. When it comes to facing some of the top teams, you’re going to face them at some point. So you just have to accept the challenge.”

The strategy

Junior forward Grace Cory will be the featured player to stop since she is the team’s leading scorer. That’s something the Carroll has understood all year. But there are other scoring options in Ally Gardner, Allie Luna and Danielle Dennis.

“Grace is someone other teams are going to plan for,” Colvin said. “But that’s where those others are going to have to step up.”

Notable

Senior keeper Jamie Phelps has the school record for career shutouts with 38.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Lady Dragons carrying momentum into first round of playoffs."