Playoff Time

By TJ MAXWELL

Cove Leader-Press

TEMPLE - The Lady Dawgs soccer team finally got back to action after a long layoff, but you wouldn’t have known it has been two weeks since their last competitive outing by the six-goal outburst by the offense. Cove knocked in three goals in each half on their way to the 6-2 victory. They allowed two Temple goals in the first half but shut down the Lady Wildcats in the second half. “The first half, we played a little slow,” said assistant coach Chelsea Letzer. “They scored on us in the first 15 seconds so that was a little wake up to the girls. We made some adjustments at half time and told them they needed to pick it up. We had a much better showing in the second half. We were proud of the way they passed, shot and put some balls in the back of the net.” Both teams combined for four goals in the first 12 minutes of action with Cove taking a 3-1 early lead. Temple scored in the first 15 seconds of play before Cove responded with three unanswered goals. Amanda Arrisola knotted the game in the second minute with a shot off of the Temple goalkeeper. Cove took the lead in the third minute on freshman Kailey Walker’s first of three goals with an assist by Jordan Campbell. The third goal came from junior Ale Ross with Campbell again on the assist. Temple scored again with eight minutes left in the first half. A goal on a header by Temple’s Melanie Foutz on a corner kick brought the Lady Wildcats within one, 3-2. It was all Cove after that. Junior Ali McBride and Walker combined for the second of Walker’s three goals in the game. McBride sent a crossing shot 30 yards across the pitch where Walker headed it in for a 4-2 Cove lead with 32:35 left in the second half. Walker followed that goal with her third at the 25:17 mark to give the Lady Dawgs a 5-2 lead. Senior Amanda Arrisola assisted on the play. “Kailey is a hard worker and never quits,” said Letzer. She’s always learning and coming off asking what she can work on. The fact that she’s finally scoring reassures her that she is a good athlete and a good soccer player. We’re excited to have her. I love having kids who work hard. She makes my job easy.” McBride also scored a goal from around 35 yards out with 12 minutes to play. The assist came from Ale Ross. The Lady Dawgs now have a tough test ahead of them. They Lady Dawgs, who finished the season with a 13-8-1 overall record after Tuesday’s warm-up game against Temple and 6-6 in District 12-6A, were rewarded for their efforts with a tough first-round matchup against the Garland Sachse Lady Mustangs (16-2-2, 12-2 in District 11-6A). The Lady Dawgs are led by McBride in scoring with eight goals. Arrisola leads the team in assists with five.The Lady Dawgs have 10 other players who have scored at least one goal and 12 players with at least one assist. The Lady Mustangs are led by Cyera Hintzen with 36 goals and 10 assists. Hintzen leads District 11-6A and is third in the Metroplex. Jordie Harr adds 20 goals and 11 assists for the Lady Mustangs. “We know they’re going to be very skilled. We know they can shoot and they can score so we’ve been working all week in preparing our defense. We’re just trying to get ready for their offense as much as we can.” Their bi-district matchup is set for 6 p.m. tonight at Tiger Stadium in Corsicana.