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.

Rangers Win District Opener, 5-1 over McCallum

I wasn’t at the Houston tournament two weeks ago, but the Rangers lost their 1st game against Katy 1-0, then went on to win their next three games convincingly. They took a break last week as it gave everyone a chance to heal and get ready for the games that really do count towards playoffs - the district schedule.

The Rangers returned to action last night with their 1st district game against McCallum at Vista Ridge high school. The JV Rangers set the tone for the varsity by cruising to an easy 8-0 victory of the McCallum JV team. The varsity team however proved to be much more of a match. Early on, it looked to be a defensive struggle with neither team asserting itself. But that changed with 10 minutes gone in the 1st half when Jordan Potter connected on a blooping ball in the McCallum box. The next goal for the Rangers came 10 minutes later on a cross from Megan Dunnigan to Alex Ancira who buried it into the corner for a 2-0 lead. Then with 7 minutes left in the half, Dunnigan was 1×1 with the goalie and scored for a 3-0 half-time lead. At half-time, Coach Cook emphasized the passing game to the girls and talked about how movement around the box was opening up scoring lanes.

The 2nd half started with Vista Ridge continuing the attack. With 27 minutes remaining, Tyra Ponce received a great outlet pass and was breaking on goal when she was tackled from behind resulting in a red card for the Connally defender. Vista Ridge continued the attack where Hannah Gantt buried a right-footer for a 4-0 lead. Freshman Alex Ancira scored the 5th and final goal of the night for Vista Ridge on a corner kick from Tyra Ponce with 8 minutes left in the game. McCallum rallied 2 minutes later with their only goal of the game. I didn’t keep the full count of shots on goal but the Vista Ridge defense again played a superb game limiting McCallum to only a handful of scoring opportunities.

The Rangers will return to district play Friday evening with an away game against Reagan. Great news - looks like Jessica Fuston who was injured in the Brenham tournament will be back and ready for play Friday evening.

Pictures of the game are posted on the goaubie photography website. Click here for the McCallum game.