Are You Ready for Some Soccer?

Man on man….time sure passes quick.  It’s time for the Vista Ridge Lady Rangers to take to the soccer fields once again for the upcoming 2009 season.  The two-time defending district champs will face a much tougher challenge to make the playoffs for their 4th consecutive year as they step up to play 5A in arguably one of Texas’ most challenging districts.

The season kicks off Saturday, January 3rd at VRHS with a friendly alumni game.  Katie is planning on coming back from Texas State to play against her archrival - Hannah.  It’ll be interesting to see who get’s the better of each other as I think both had a few deserts over the Christmas holidays.

The season begins in earnest January 9th with the Rangers attending a number of tournaments each weekend during January.  Then district play begins Tuesday, January 27th with a match against rival Leander High school.  The season then features games most Tuesday & Friday nights through March 17th where the Lady Rangers will play against Georgetown, Round Rock, Stony Point, Westwood, McNeil and Leander.

I for one am looking forward to this season as once again I’ll be on the sidelines taking pictures.  This will be the last one for me as Hannah graduates in May and will likely hang up her soccer cleats after the season.   Look for game updates and pictures after each contest.

Go Lady Rangers!

Great VRHS Article on HillCountryNews.com

Over the last several years, Robert Thomas of the Hill Country news has been covering the local high school sports programs.  I got to know Robert better this last year as I had more of my photographs published by the paper.  I intend to be a local “beat” reporter to help him out beginning in the fall.  Well anyway, he wrote a great story about the success of all the Vista Ridge athletic programs.  From a school that just opened their doors 5 years ago with just a freshman class, VRHS has excelled in almost every sport notching regional, state, and national titles along the way.

Here’s a link to the full article:  http://www.hillcountrynews.com/articles/2008/07/07/sports/sports75.txt

VRHS Men’s Soccer State Semifinals

Well, the Vista Ridge Men’s soccer team did good this year - really good.  But they fell short last Friday night against Del Valle on a questionable call by the referee in the 2nd overtime period.  That gave Del Valle a PK which they made and lifted them to a 1-0 victory over the Rangers.   They went on the next day to win the state championship.  You hate to see an official’s call influence the outcome of such an important game, and evidently so did the UIL.  The official won’t be working another playoff game anytime soon.

But to argue over that call is to miss the incredible game that was played between both teams.  The final 2 may have played Saturday, but Friday night featured the 2 best teams in the state of Texas.   Both left everything they had on the field that night.  I’ve seen alot of soccer games, but I’ve never witnessed the level of play that Vista Ridge goalie Trey Ponce put on that evening.  Don’t get me wrong - the entire team played well, particularly the defense.  But Trey……well, let’s just say had I been a college scout for Auburn, he would have had a full ride scholoarship on his effort alone.  So while they boys didn’t win it all - they had a season they’ll all look back on in future years with alot of pride.

Game pictures are available for viewing at my website (click the picture above) but may not be downloaded, or printed.  They are owned by PhotoTexas under the contract they have with the UIL and may be purchased from their site at www.phototexas.com and clicking the UIL link.

VRHS Men’s Soccer reach State Final 4

The Vista Ridge Men’s soccer team advanced to the Texas state championship round Friday night as they defeated Canyon High 3-1 at Hays field. This is the 1st time in Vista Ridge soccer history that either the men’s or ladies’ team has advanced to the state tournament. Congratulations Rangers and good luck next weekend.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwKTLsprJJQ&hl=en]

Lady Rangers Win 2nd Straight District Title

The Vista Ridge Lady Rangers won their 2nd straight district 25-4A championship on Saturday by beating the Lake Travis Lady Cavaliers 2-0. This year’s match-up renewed a rivalry between the 2 of the best teams in central Texas. Each easily won their respective district brackets. Both are perennial playoff contenders. And the Lady Mavs entered the 2008 season after finishing 3rd in the state championships last year. And as the game started, it was clear that this game was going to be close, matching competitive teams with very good coaching on both sides.

But this day belonged to the Lady Rangers. As has become the pattern for the season, the Rangers struck first on a beautiful goal by senior Tyra Ponce just 11 minutes into the game. The Lady Cavs tried to answer and had some nice looks on goal. But the defense while bending never broke. Then with 14:25 left in the half, freshman Megan Dunnigan broke through the Lady Cav defense and scored putting the Rangers up 2-0. That lead proved to be enough as the defense shut Lake Travis down for the rest of the game allowing just a few serious scoring opportunities. The best opportunity for Lake Travis came in the 2nd half when a forward managed to sneak behind the Lady Ranger defense and had what looked to be a clear shot on the goal. That’s when goalie Shelby Sova showed her stuff when she went 1×1 with the LT forward, blocked the shot, and then fell on the ball in the box to preserve the shut-out. While the offense may get the headlines, the defense has been solid for Vista Ridge all year - allowing only 1 goal in all of district play.

The Lady Rangers will enjoy a bye next week before they return to action the week of March 24th. This marks the 4th consecutive year the Lady Rangers have qualified for the playoffs. Since the high school opened in 2003, every varsity ladies soccer team has qualified for the playoffs.

Congratulations to the Lady Rangers on another district championship, and another playoff berth. Good luck to them as they begin their march through the playoffs towards the state championships!

Lady Rangers Honor Seniors - Slam LBJ

On Monday night at VRHS, the Lady Rangers celebrated senior night with a lopsided victory over the LBJ Lady Jaguars. The 2nd class of seniors to ever graduate from Vista Ridge were honored at half-time with signed balls from all the players, flowers from their parents, and tears & hugs from the team. Each senior had provided pre-recorded comments to their team mates and coach - but the one theme was it ain’t over yet.

And so went another district game where the Rangers ruled from beginning to end. The Lady Jags are in 2nd place in the district and were playing at full strength this time around. That fact must have been lost on the Rangers as they lit up the scoreboard with 6 1st half goals and cruised in the 2nd half to a 9-0 win. Tyra Ponce started the scoring with a goal after a deflected shot by Megan Dunnigan. Ponce then returned the favor with a cross to Dunnigan for the Ranger’s 2nd goal. Dunnigan’s 2nd goal came a few minutes later she got behind the defense and faked the goalie for an easy score. Ponce scored next as she turned on the jets and outran the Lady Jag defense to put the Rangers up 4-0. Tyra then did it again to earn another hat trick for the year putting the Rangers up 5-0. Dunnigan then earned her hat trick with a goal that put the Rangers up 6-0.

Honored at half were graduating seniors - Lauren Frazier Tyra Ponce, Cassie Hutt, Rainee Mennitt, Catie McLaughlin, Christi Menitt, Alie Maudru, Jordan Potter, and Sharifa Mattis.

The 2nd half was all Rangers and again the defense put up a stout effort allowing regular goalie Shelby Sova to earn a little playing time in the field. Jordan Potter started the 2nd half scoring followed by Christi Mennit, and Megan Dunnigan.

The Rangers are off until next week when they’ll play for the district championship. Pictures of the game can be found at the goaubie galleries page.

Rangers Rip Lanier - 11-0

The Lady Rangers made their last visit to Nowalk fields Friday and easily beat Lanier 11-0. The Rangers will be moving from 4A to 5A next year and will be changing districts. But on this night, the focus was still on winning the district championship and getting ready for the playoffs.

The Lady Rangers struck early and often in the 1st half on their way to an 8-0 lead. Header goals were the night’s theme as the Rangers scored on 3 beautiful headers setup by terrific crossing passes. Scoring for the Rangers were Alex Ancira who had 4 goals (including a header) and 1 assist. Megan Dunnigan had 2 goals including 1 header. Senior Tyra Ponce had 2 goals and 3 assists. Hannah Gantt (header) finished the night with one goal on an assist from Jordan Potter. Even the defense got in on the scoring action with goal from Lesley Nguyen and Catie McLaughlin. The Rangers defense completely shut down Lanier so much so that keeper Shelby Sova played midfield backed up by Tera Thompson in goal in the 2nd half. Must have been a hard night for Tara - she was seen playing shadow puppets to keep herself entertained!

The Rangers will return to action Monday night at VRHS which will be senior night to honor the senior class.

Lady Ranger Mid-Season Update

Sorry for not giving details for the individual games, but my new Mac finally arrived and I’ve been transitioning to it. Love it. Fast as can be……

Since my last update, the Vista Ridge Lady Rangers posted wins over Marble Falls, McCallum, and Reagan. The Lady Rangers visited Marble Falls on Wednesday, March 20th and dominated the game from start to finish - beating the Lady Jags 10-0. On the following Saturday, the Rangers visited McCallum at Nelson field and won 8-0. Last Tuesday, the Rangers hosted Reagan at VRHS and won 8-0.

Sorry for not posting more details - been slammed this last week.

Rangers Blast Short-handed LBJ, 5-0

On a rainy and cold Saturday morning, the Lady Rangers cruised to a 5-0 win over the LBJ Lady Jaguars and at Nelson field. I spoke with Coach Cook during the game and he was surprised that the game wasn’t more of a slugfest. The Lady Jags were missing 6 or so players due to school conflicts.

The game started as all of the district games have, with Vista Ridge attacking and gaining the early lead. Senior Tyra Ponce put on a clinic early by scoring the 1st 3 of Vista Ridge’s goals and earning her 2nd hat trick of the season. Vista Ridge was up 3-0 with 20 minutes gone in the 1st half and it looked as though the game would turn into another blowout. That’s when the LBJ starting goalie arrived and the tone of the game changed. LBJ began playing good defensively yet still couldn’t amount a consistent offensive threat. The VR defense continued its strong play anchored by defenders Roxy Farrell and Leslie Nguyen. So strong that starting goalie Shelby Sova earned a break during the 1st half with Megan Dunnigan and Alex Ancira sharing keeper responsibilities. The game looked to be heading into half 3-0, when Dunnigan connected with a left-footer with 1 minute left to put Vista Ridge up 4-0 at half-time.

The 2nd half was more of the same with the Lady Rangers continuing the attack. With 10 minutes elapsed, sophomore Jessica Fuston showed her stuff by dribbling from midfield through the Lady Jag’s defense and scoring with a left foot to put Vista Ridge up 5-0. The Lady Rangers played down a player for much of the 2nd half yet were still able to attack and shut down the Lady Jags’ offense.

The Rangers will return to action Wednesday night as they visit Marble Falls in Marble Falls.

PS - I didn’t attend the VR -vs- Lanier game last Tuesday night, but the Rangers won 12-0.

Rangers Route Reagan 13-0

The Vista Ridge Lady Rangers were simply too much for the out-gunned Regan Raiders Friday night at Nowak fields. The Rangers appeared to take the early lead just 20 seconds into the game only to have the goal called offsides. That was an early indicator of things to come as just 2 minutes later, senior Tyra Ponce connected to put the Rangers up 1-0. The game settled a bit with the Rangers continuing the attack but were denied by a valiant effort by the Reagan goalie. Then 9 minutes into the half, sophomore Rebecca Campbell connected with a corner cross from Ponce and the rout was on. Coach Stormy Cook began mass substitutions with all of the girls seeing significant play time and the opportunity to play different positions. Yet the Rangers were still too much rolling up to a 7-0 half-time lead.

The Rangers continued the attack during the 2nd half dominating both offensively and defensively. Reagan had no shots on goal during the entire game. The game also saw the return of Jessica Fuston who returned from her knee injury. The following players contributed to the scoring - Tyra Ponce - 2, Christi Mennitt - 2, Jordan Potter - 2, Alex Ancira - 2, Hannah Gantt - 1, Rebecca Campbell - 1, Lacy McCann - 1, Carin Nolen-1, Megan Dunnigan - 1

The Rangers will continue district play hosting Lanier Tuesday night at VRHS.

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