Lady Oilers fall to Seven Lakes in soccer playoffs
April 6, 2024
Pearland (19-3-3) was coming off a 1-0 win over the Summer Creek Lady Bulldogs in the region quarterfinals.
Seven Lakes (19-3-5) blanked Pearland 3-0 to advance to the 6A Region III finals to face Katy Jordan (17-4-5) which they won 2-1 in OT to advance to the 6A state tournament.
Pearland head coach Elise Cox, who has done an excellent job in leading the Lady Oilers to prominence, had this to say, “Seven Lakes is very organized, they wanted to put the ball away,” Cox said. “I’m super proud of our girls for what they’ve done. The second goal deflated us a little bit, and after that we said there’s no pressure on us. We just wanted to finish strong.”
Seven Lakes scored their first goal against the wind when junior midfielder Maria Castro put the Lady Spartans on the scoreboard 1-0.
The Lady Spartans added a second goal a short time later when Castro assisted sophomore Anu Aalona who scored to push the lead to 2-0 to end the first half.
Seven Lakes worked the ball down the right side of the field and Castro found Aalona 15 yards in front of the goal. The sophomore then drilled the shot past Pearland goalie Savannah Epting for the 2-0 advantage.
Unfortunately for Pearland, the offensive attack was limited to two corner kicks which were well defended.
Senior Audrey Cooper attempted a kick from 35 yards out, but Seven Lakes goalkeeper Carly Drescher protected the net.
The Lady Spartans put the nail in the coffin in the 48th minute in the second half on a header by junior defender Kennedy Reed that sealed the 3-0 win.
