HS Girls Soccer: Oak Ridge beats Conroe in the final minutes

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Sometimes the ball just bounces your way. It wasn’t that way for the majority of the game but by the time the stadium buzzer sounded, the Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles got the right bounces to come away with a 2-1 win over Conroe.

The first half was a defensive struggle between the district foes. The ball seemed to be trapped in the midfield at Woodforest Stadium. The lone real goal-scoring chance was by the War Eagles 20 minutes in, but Conroe’s keeper came up with the save and the rebound chance was sent over the bar.

Both teams looked drastically different in the second half. What started as a cagey battle became an end-to-end track meet with scoring chances being traded back and forth. Oak Ridge and Conroe even traded penalties within a minute of each other eight minutes into the half. Courtney Boykani’s penalty was saved, but the Conroe midfielder pounced on the rebound and tapped it in to give the Lady Tigers a 1-0 lead. The War Eagles didn’t have the same luck on their penalty that was awarded after a collision in the box just a minute after Conroe’s goal. Oak Ridge’s penalty hit the goal post and bounced away from the trailing teammates to keep the score at 1-0.

Oak Ridge’s luck changed midway through the half when the ball finally bounced their way for once. A loose ball got away from Conroe’s keeper and Ashley Jaimes appeared at the right time to poke the ball into an empty net. The teams continued to battle and a draw seemed likely. That was until Oak Ridge captain Leila Anderson found space at the top of the box and ripped a shot on goal with two minutes remaining. The shot hit the underside of the crossbar at just the right angle to bounce off the ground and backspin into the top of the net for the game-winning goal.

“It was a great win,” said Coach Miriam Morales. “After [Conroe] scored a goal, our players didn’t put their heads down. They came back, had a great second half and got the win.”

On the game-winning goal, Coach Morales was relieved to see it find the back of the net.

“That goal started in the midfield,” said Morales. “Great passing and movement allowed Leila to split the defenders. When she shot it, I thought it was going somewhere else, but I’m just so glad it went in the goal.”