Kennedale girls temper pressure with savvy entering state tourney

When Kennedale walked off its home field Saturday after a 3-0 victory against Abilene Wylie in the girls Class 4A Region I final, there was plenty of celebration.

But perhaps greater than the sense of excitement was the sense of relief. With several key players back from a team that won the state championship last season, expectations couldn’t have been any higher.

“After that win on Saturday, when we’d punched our ticket to the state tournament, it was like we could finally all take a breath,” Kennedale coach Michael Strange said. “Region I is so tough.”

Life is different when you’re defending champs.

“The pressure is a little different,” Strange said. “Last year, I think the girls were naive to the situation. They just took it one game at a time. They were happy to get to regionals. Then it was about beating Melissa, which was undefeated. State wasn’t really on our mind at that point. But we beat Melissa and then three days later you’re playing in the state semifinal. It all just happened so quickly.”

This season, thinking about a trip to state started, well, just after the end of last season.

“Having that experience under our belt, our practices were more aimed at reaching that goal again,” senior captain Allie Thornton said. “When we were practicing, it wasn’t so much preparing for the next game as it was looking at the bigger picture and preparing for the tougher games.”

Thornton, the MVP of last year’s state tournament, followed up that junior season — in which she scored 26 goals and was the Star-Telegram Super Team Player of the Year — by hitting the net 40 times already this season. A pair of teammates, Abby Olmos and freshman Eryka McIntyre, have added 23 and 24 goals, respectively.

As a team, the Wildcats (25-2) have outscored opponents 156-14 this season. Of the team’s 25 wins, 17 have come by way of shutout. And for good measure, Kennedale tuned up for the postseason by defeating 5A state tournament qualifier Grapevine 3-0 in a warm-up game.

Kennedale has the advantage of last year’s experience in Georgetown, but also has the added pressure of being the team to beat.

“I think it goes both ways,” Thornton said. “We are kind of relaxed because we know what to expect since we’ve been there and know what the environment is like. At the same time, the target is on our back so we have to rise to the occasion because a lot of people are expecting us to win, and of course we want to win.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Kennedale girls temper pressure with savvy entering state tourney."