Lady Yoe fall to Lorena in second round of playoffs
The Lady Yoe girl’s soccer team fell to the Lorena Lady Leopards on Tuesday 2-1 in the second round of the playoffs.
The Lady Yoe remembered Lorena from earlier this year as they fell to them in January 5-0.
The Lady Yoe came in hoping to get some redemption but were unable to get it.
The action started early as Savannah Nejtek (35) made a close save in the first minute. After that Cameron started to put some pressure on offense, as they had a shot on goal opportunity but missed. Lorena got the ball back to their side of the field and missed on a corner kick.
Lorena was able to score the first goal of the game shortly after that in the ninth minute of the game. Lorena kept applying pressure as Nejtek had to make two more saves that came in the 12th minute.
Lorena kept applying on the Lady Yoes side of the field for most of the half. Cameron survived a free kick in the 21st minute. Nejtek saved another scare in the 26th minute. Cameron survived a free kick in the 28th minute as the ball went high over the net. Nejtek saved a shot on goal opportunity in the 34th minute. The Lady Yoe avoided near danger in last minute as the ball went wide past the goal post.
The Lady Yoe gave up a gut-wrenching goal in the last ten seconds of the half on a shot by Lorena from the 25 yard line that was just over the outstretched hands of Nejtek. Cameron would go into halftime trailing 2-0.
Cameron started the second half with more intensity on offense as they put more pressure on Lorena’s defense and started to get more shots on goal. The Lady Yoe had a shot on goal opportunity by Ja’Kerra Holt (16) but missed in the 47th minute as the ball got to the goalie before she could get the kick off.
“We talked at half time about how to apply pressure and keep the ball away from their best defender,” Coach Laura Dickson said. “We also had the advantage of having the wind with us the 2nd half. The wind was definitely a factor in the game.”
Cameron survived a corner kick in the 51st minute. Cameron got back on offense and missed a shot on goal in the 57th minute. The ball went back to the Lorena side of the field and Cameron avoided goal shortly after later in the same minute of play. Nejtek made a great save in the 64th minute, then Cameron got it going on offense and missed a shot on goal in the 65th minute. Holt was able to break away from the defenders for a terrific fastbreak score for Cameron’s first goal of the game.
“The midfield sent a great ball through the defense and Ja’Kerra was able to make a touch past their line to have a one-on-one chance against their keeper,” Dickson said. “Ja’Kerra learned from the first few runs that their keeper would come out and challenge. She made a great touch on the ball and was able to shoot around the keeper.”
Nejtek saved another shot on goal in the 71st minute, then Cameron survived a corner kick shortly after. Nejtek made an athletic save with six minutes left in the game as she leaped to catch the ball and save the goal.
It would not be enough as Cameron would lose 2-1.
Even with the loss, Dickson was pleased with her team’s performance from the previous game against Lorena as this game was much closer and more competitive.
“At the beginning of the season the leadership team came up with redemption as a theme for the season,” Dickson said. “Although this wasn’t the outcome we wanted, I couldn’t be more proud of how they competed tonight and finished strong. As a team, we didn’t just redeem the game, we redeemed the season, accomplishing what we set out to do from the beginning.”
This is the first time the Lady Yoe has made it this far in the playoffs.
Sealy Bi-District
The Lady Yoe girls’ soccer team advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 2-0 shutout victory against the Sealy Lady Tigers on Friday night.
Cameron avoided a near scare to start the game as Savannah Nejtek (35) made a close save as the ball went wide of the net in the fourth minute of the game. Another close call came a minute later as the ball hit the goal post and went into Nejtek’s hands.
Cameron started to get going, helping their goalie and gaining some momentum on offense. Ja’Kerra Holt (16) just barely missed a shot on goal in the eighth minute.
The Lady Yoe had to get back on defense and Nejtek made a clutch save in the tenth minute. She had another save at thirteenth minute. She also prevented another goal attempt by tipping the ball out of bounds in the 15th minute.
Cameron survived a corner kick a minute later with the help of their defense. That corner kick stop allowed the Lady Yoe to get themselves back in gear on offense. Holt missed a shot over the net. Fortunately for the Lady Yoe, Holt got another opportunity and made it count as she scored shortly after on a brilliant shot for the first goal in the 16th minute of the game.
“All season, our athleticism up top was really key in that,” Dickson said. “Ja’Kerra does a great job of being aggressive to the ball and just putting it on goal. She had a couple of other shots on goal we didn’t get lucky on, but we were able to put the ball in twice. One of those, Brandi used her athleticism going down the sideline and sent that ball over and Ja’Kerra was there to put it in.”
Dickson said on their ability to create shots on goal, “just the speed we have up top and the athleticism, and our defense did a really good job of clearing the ball up the field and keeping it up there so we could press and make those runs at the ball.”
Cameron continued to put the pressure on offense. They missed a corner kick opportunity in the 23rd minute. Sealy was able to push up the offense and Cameron survived a shot on goal by Sealy in the 28th minute. The Lady Yoe survived a corner kick shortly after. For the rest of the first half, the game pretty much stayed even as both teams went back and forth with no further scoring. Cameron led at halftime 1-0. One big change Cameron focused on at halftime was the frequent fastbreak chances for Sealy, and Dickson was all over it.
“About 45 minutes before game time, one of our starting defenders was sick and ended up not being able to play, so I had to make a last minute adjustment and so we just had to figure out how to communicate and work together,” she said. “So, it really wasn’t much of an adjustment, as much as just starting to play together because when you’ve got four defenders back there and one of them is brand new, and she hasn’t played with them on that line before, there’s just some communication you have to figure out, and they started playing better together.”
The Lady Tigers tried to pounce on Cameron early as Nejtek made a clutch save in the 43rd minute. The Lady Yoe was able to get out in transition and scored a goal on a skillful play by Brandi Drake (1) as they got the ball to ricochet off the goalie in the 45th minute to make the score 2-0. Nejtek saved a goal as she jumped on the ball in the 49th minute. Nejtek made another save in the 53rd minute.
“Savannah played an amazing game,” Dickson said. “She came out when she needed to come out, she made great decisions with the ball. She has some speed, some quickness, and she used that in times she needed. She’d stop a ball and get right back up and make another save. She just really played great tonight.”
Cameron eventually was able to get the ball on the opposite side of the field again. Brandi Drake missed a shot on goal via header in the 58th minute. The Lady Tigers refused to give up as they had another shot on goal opportunity saved by Nejtek. Cameron’s defense continued to hold off the offensive pressure by Sealy, as they survived a near goal as the ball just missed wide of the net.
The Lady Yoe also survived a free kick with six minutes left. Cameron almost scored again but just missed a fastbreak shot on goal by Holt in last two minutes of the game. Cameron held on to win this important playoff game 2-0. One big advantage for the Lady Yoe was their depth and having multiple skills for multiple situations and having an answer for whatever was thrown at them.
“I just had to rotate people in,” Dickson said. “That’s why I told them before the game, I have several players and they all have different skill sets. Some of them have the speed, some of them have the touch. And so, I was going to use who I needed in what position I needed. Those who came off the bench did an amazing job today helping us rotate through and taking care of business there.”