Lady War Eagles fall in Area playoffs

BRYAN, Texas - The Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles were one 10-yard shot away from tying Austin Westlake 1-1 and making quite a match of it on Friday night.

Instead, Westlake goalie Kalli Douma came up with the save of the night, and the Chaps (21-1-1) coasted to a 4-0 Region II-5A area-round playoff victory at Bryan High School.

Westlake, which won District 15-5A, next will meet Kingwood in the Region II-5A quarterfinals on Tuesday night. Kingwood, which won the District 13-5A title, advanced with a 2-1 overtime win over Cedar Ridge on Friday.

Oak Ridge, which advanced to the second round of the girls’ soccer playoffs for the second straight year, ended its season 13-7-2.

“If that shot goes in, you never know,’’ said Oak Ridge head coach Jim Collins. “It could have been a completely different game.’’

Austin Westlake was simply faster and better at almost every position on Friday night. But the Lady War Eagles, who were down a handful of starters due to injuries, did everything in their power to stay in the contest.

The Lady Chaps put on a speed, dribbling and passing show for the first 40 minutes of the contest. But when the first-half buzzer sounded, the Chaps had only a 1-0 lead on Zayne Matulio’s header off a corner kick.

Oak Ridge goalie Angelina Batiste was simply brilliant in net. She also had help from Kennedy Jones, Sydney Vincent and Gates Yager, who made a kick save after Batiste got caught in the middle of the scrum at the 26:20 mark of the first half.

“We were turning back shot after shot,’’ Collins said. “I was so proud of the way the girls played. They were doing everything they could to stay in the game.’’

Oak Ridge crossed midfield only twice in the first 12 minutes and managed only Mercedes Rogers’ shot on goal in the first half. Yet, it was still right in the contest.

The Lady War Eagles, who pushed up their forwards in the second half, looked like they might tie the match at the 36:40 mark of the second half when Kamri Brown took a perfect cross and blasted a shot from only 10 yards out. But Douma showed lightning-quick reflexes to keep the Lady War Eagles off the board.

Westlake then took control of the match for good when Matulio chipped a ball over the Oak Ridge defense and Rachel Coyle ran it down and beat Batiste to the right corner of the net after the Oak Ridge goalie elected to come out and challenge the shot.

“I think all the air went out of our balloon after that second goal,’’ admitted Collins. “That one really hurt.’’

Matulio took a through ball from Hailey Bishop and scored on a left footed kick to the right corner of the net with 18:58 to play, and the Bishop finished the scoring a couple minutes later.

“They were the better team,’’ admitted Collins. “But are they 4-0 better? I don’t think so. It was tough to play them with so many girls out of the lineup.’’

Collins said Westlake was comparable to Coppell, who beat the Lady War Eagles early in the season.

“They were just so fast,’’ he said of the Lady Chaps. “They could run at every position. They have a very good team. I think they have a chance to go a long way.’’