Leander defeats Cedar Park for playoff berth

The stakes were high when the Cedar Park Lady Timberwolves hosted the Leander Lady Lions friday night in a district battle to see who would qualify for the UIL softball playoffs.  It was a very well-played game that turned into a pitches duel until the late innings.  Neither team mounted a serious offensive threat until the top of the 7th when Leander had base runners on 2nd and 3rd and failed to score.  The game went into extra innings with Leander again putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  But this time, they capitalized by bringing in the game-winning run.  Congratulations Leander and Cedar Park both!

Be sure to click the picture to see all the photos from the game.

Doing a little freelance work with Hill Country News

The Hill Country News is a local paper that covers mostly the Williamson country (Cedar Park and Leander) areas of Texas.  It’s a great paper that has alot of articles that the larger Austin American Statesman doesn’t carry.  It does a particularly nice job of cover the high school sports scenes.  I had worked very closely with Robert Thomas taking soccer pictures.  Well……I got a call this week to help take more sports shots to help out.  It’s something I was interested in as I love doing photography and the chance to help out the paper too - well, that’s just fun.

So, my 1st assignment was today taking shots for the Vista Ridge boys baseball game against Westwood.  I got there a little early and had a chance to watch and photograph a little bit of my 1st ever Lacrosse game.  It was Vista Ridge -vs- Harker Heights.  I didn’t have a clue of what was going on or the rules.  But it looked like alot of fun.  It was definitely alot higher scoring than baseball or soccer.  After about 15 minutes of shooting, I got around to shooting the boys baseball.  I stuck for the 1st 3 innings with the good guys up 4-1.  You’ll have to visit the paper to see the final scores.  They publish updates every Tuesday and Friday.

The men Rangers lose to Stony Point 3-1

The Vista Ridge Ranger team took to the field today with a slim chance to stay in the playoff hunt against Stony Point.  Whatever chance they had quickly vanished as Stony Point built a 3-0 lead and made it stick for most of the game.  The Rangers had a few chances and managed to add a consolation goal with 45 seconds to go in the game.  The boys will face Westwood on Monday night in their last game of the 2009 season.

Lady Rangers celebrate senior night

On a very cold, wet, and generally nasty night in central Texas, the Lady Rangers paid tribute to the class of 2009 with a 2-1 victory over Stony Point.  I didn’t take pictures as it was just too nasty to get the camera out - but I did take some pictures of the half-time festivities.  In a tradition that started with the school’s first graduating class (2007), all of the seniors recorded a message to the team that was played during halftime.  Most of the girls reflected on their memories of their time at Vista Ridge and encouraged their teammates by calling out some of their “special” gifts and talents.  Like all seniors that have gone before them, this was a very special group of girls.

Lady Rangers needing win lost to RR 2-0

The Lady Rangers entered the game needing to win 2 of the last 3 to qualify for the playoffs. With their backs against the wall, the Lady Rangers played lights out for most of the game, but still lost 2-0 to the Round Rock Lady Dragons.  The 1st half belonged to the Lady Rangers both offensively and defensively.  But as it sometimes is in soccer, they just couldn’t get it in the goal.  They entered halftime tied 0-0.

The 2nd half began as the 1st ended with the Rangers continuing to apply the offensive pressure.  Just when it looked like the Rangers had the momentum, Round Rock got a quick transition goal when their forward got behind our last defender and out ran everyone to put the 1st goal on the board.  The Lady Rangers continued to fight and still had chances on what seemed like countless corner opportunities.  With 15 minutes in the game, Round Rock put the game away when their midfield connected on a ball that was just a little tall for our goalie.  To the Rangers credit, they never let up and fought all the way to the end.

The Lady Rangers will return to action Friday night at VRHS where they host Stony Point.  This will be senior night where the graduating class will be honored at half-time.

a win against Round Rock to keep pace with Cedar Park for the final playoff slot.

Men’s Rangers tie Round Rock 1-1

The Vista Ridge men’s soccer team went into Dragon stadium trailing by 2 points for the 4th and final playoff slot.  Although they defeated Round Rock in earlier district play, this game was back and forth with a slight advantage to the Rangers offensively.  But on one of those nights where you might have a slight advantage, the Rangers failed to capitalize and came away with a 1-1 tie.  Click on the picture to see all the game-time photos.

Lady Rangers fall to McNeil 3-0

I was out of town during the week but a quick update on Tuesday night’s game.  The Lady Rangers beat Georgetown 3-1.

Now, for Friday night’s matchup against McNeil - this game wasn’t pretty nor was it close.  McNeil struck first less than 10 minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead.  The Rangers had a few shots to try to even things up but nothing connected.  McNeil scored again before half to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.  During halftime, Coach Cook told the girls that again skill-against-skill and matchup-for-matchup there was no reason for us to be trailing or not in the game.  The issue he said was that the team was not playing as a unit.  The 2nd half presented a few more opportunities for the Rangers but again, they failed to connect.  McNeil padded their lead and won 3-0 against a very uninspired performance by the Rangers.

My opinion - it’s my blog so I can write what I wish.  The Lady Rangers have the potential to go very deep in the playoffs but at this point in their season will be fortunate to make them.  Their competition in the next 2 games (Cedar Park and Round Rock) are also in the hunt.  A loss against either will likely eliminate the Rangers at worse case.  At best case, they would need help.  It would be a shame as this team is a good one.  But my view from the sidelines is that they are indeed not playing as a unit.  The unity evident in pre-district play hasn’t been there since starting district.  There are cliques within the team and it’s showing on the field.   It doesn’t matter how many individual good players there are - nobody is good enough to carry the team on their own to victory at this level of competition.  It’s gut check time for the Rangers.  I hope they realize their potential and decide they want it for each other more than for themselves.  If they can do that - they’ll be fine.  If not, this season will likely go down as a season of could-have-beens and might be the 1st Vista Ridge varsity soccer team in history to not qualify for the playoffs.  That would be a shame.

Rangers sweep Leander

Last week was a tough week for the Leander soccer programs - both for the men and women.  Early in the week, both Leander squads lost to Cedar Park and on Friday night, both squads faired the same against the Vista Ridge Ranger teams.

Lady Rangers Win 3-0

The Lady Rangers began Friday night needing a win to keep pace with Cedar Park for a chance to make a playoff run.  They got exactly what they needed with a 3-0 shutout and a clear-the-bench effort that almost all players got to see action.  I talked w/Coach Cook right before half and discussed how this team really does have the chance to be very very good.  With a little team building that the captains sponsored Friday afternoon, it looked more like the Vista Ridge team that started the year.  Next up for the Lady Rangers will be Georgetown in Georgetown on Tuesday night.

Rangers (Men) shutout Leander 1-0

In a hotly contest at Rouse High school, the men’s Ranger team showed that they can hang even in the face of adversity.  The game was a very physical and emotional game with both teams going at it.  Tempers flared quite a few times throughout the match - even with the officials.  Lucklily nobody was carded but it was clear that if Vista Ridge wanted to win - they were going to have to earn it.  The game ended the half tied 0-0.  Leander came out agressively in the 2nd half and appeared to take the momentum when Vista Ridge got hot on a great transition effort and scored to take the lead.  Julian and the defense did the rest by keeping the Lions off the board with few good shots on goal for the remainder of the game.

Rangers men team defeat Westwood 5-2

In their 1st ever matchup, the Vista Ridge men’s soccer team showed they can be an offensive force.  This was only my 2nd chance to get to see the men in action and they didn’t disappoint.  The Rangers kept Westwood on their heals most of the 1st half taking a 2-0 lead into halftime.  Westwood struck back quickly in the 2nd half with 2 quick goals to tie things up at 2-2.  That’s when the Vista Ridge defense stepped up big but the offensive even bigger.  Westwood never got off another shot on goal after evening things and Vista Ridge ripped 3 straight goals and had opportunities for more.

I happened to be standing next to the Warrior bench quite a few times when Julian would punt.  I laughed when you could here their gasp at how high the ball went.  One of the players joked that he’d give $20 to any of his teammates that would get underneath those for a header.  Great job Julian!

Lady Rangers come up short against Westwood

The Vista Ridge Lady Ranger soccer team finished out the 1st half of district play against the district-leading Westwood Lady Warriors with a 2-1 loss.  The score was closer than the game was in reality.  Westwood demonstrated why they’re undefeated in the district with the best total-team effort I’ve seen so far.  Position against position and skill against skill, the match-ups were there.  But the Lady Warriors simply moved the ball at will to create scoring opportunities where Lady Rangers did not.  The lone Ranger goal was scored by a great cross from Emily Glenn to Alex Ancira who headed it in.  But it wasn’t enough as the Warrior defense shutdown the Vista Ridge attack.

The Lady Rangers finish the 1st half of district play tied for 4th with Cedar Park but hold the tie-breaker based on goal differential.  The district record was 3-2-2.  The top 4 teams will go on to the playoffs.  The Lady Rangers had opportunities in each one of their losses and ties so the playoffs are within their grasp.  Based on my own personal observations, the girls are going to have to dig deep if they want it and begin playing together as a team like they did when the season was fresh.

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