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    PHOTO BY STEPHEN SHEAD Goal Keeper Casey Crawford makes a diving save on the final penalty kick to win the tournament for Wimberley.

Girls soccer wins Battle of the Brush tournament

Youth is the story for the Wimberley girls’ soccer team this year. With only three seniors, coach Brinton Nute still finds himself with a group of experienced players who could power their way to a high spot in the upcoming district standings.

At last weekend’s Battle of the Brush tournament last Friday and Saturday in El Paso, Wimberley defeated Floresville 3-1, Austin of El Paso 3-1 and Corpus Christi London 3-1. The Texans then advanced to the championship game against Pleasanton. After the teams played to a 0-0 double overtime, the game went to the shoot-out stage of the game. Goal keeper Casey Crawford came up big as she had done for almost all minutes of the three previous games.

In the shootout, Wimberley players Jerzi Deatherage, Holly Harwood and Cassidy Heineman scored their penalty kicks while Crawford stopped the Eagles three penalty kicks to assure the Texans’ a 3-1 win and the tourney championship trophy.

Evaluating earlier games against Burnet and Fredericksburg as a measure of his teams’ improvement, coach Nute commented, “I don’t think we played particularly well against Fredericksburg in our scrimmage game. After we came off the field from our first game against Floresville, we then faced Fredericksburg in the second match at 9:00. “Fredericksburg “packed the bus” against us, which means they stayed in their defensive zone and seldom advanced over the half line.”

“On the sideline, I told our girls maybe Fredericksburg was playing for a 0-0 result,” Nute suggested. That same strategy might happen often this year since we have the offensive power to score often. We’re very competitive this year.”

But, the looming start of district games may challenge the Wimberley girls with a tough schedule. “We play away the first three district games in a row,” Coach Nute cautioned. “That means our team will need to compete back to back to back against three of the tougher threats in the district on their fields.”

Asked which players have stood out so far, Coach Nute quickly started his list with midfielder Cassidy Heineman. “She’s looked really strong so far this year. She scored four goals in the first games. Then there’s Casey Crawford who has looked very steady in goal. But, other girls have made great progress from last year to this year. For example, Laysa Molina started very raw last year but the coaches can tell that she practiced over the Summer because she’s improved dramatically.”

“Arianna Hernandez, a sophomore midfielder, worked all year on using her right foot so she can cross the ball better to switch play. While those four may not have been be No. 1 on the roster, they’ve come in and worked their way up to the varsity team.”

After away games, the Texan team bus typically arrives back in Wimberley somewhere around 10:00 but sometimes as late as 11:00. “This could be a problem for some students“ the first year coach suggested. “But for the girls in our soccer program, we seldom see academic problems because they’re also pretty dedicated in the classroom.”

When asked how he feels his Texan soccer girls will do this season, the first year coach enthusiastically answered, “We’re quite confident! We don’t feel any pressure to go out and set the world on fire. At the same time, I expect us to be competitive in every game.”

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054