Soccer Playoffs

Raquel Juarez, Staff Writer

On March 29, at the Grapevine field, the Lady Hornets played The Little Elm Lobos at the first game of the playoffs. The Azle Hornets were very excited to be in the playoffs since 2014-2015.

The Lady Hornets had a great season this year. Azle is number 4 in the district and they had a record of 12-14-0. Coach Timothy Lyons mentioned the Azle defense front was impeccable this year, as well as their offense. During the season they kept possession of the ball most of the time. During the off-season time, they worked on keeping possession using short quick passes. At the end of the season, they averaged over 50% possession over all 25 games.

“We had a decent season,” Coach Lyons said. “There definitely some ups and downs as they played a very difficult schedule but they work hard for me and always do their best to execute the game plan.”

It was the first Bi-district playoff game playing against Little Elm, who ranked 6th in the state at the time. The Lady Hornets did their best to defend throughout the whole game, especially in the first half. The first half ended with a score of 0-0. Azle made a couple errors and Little Elm took advantage of that. The ending score was the Lady Hornets zero and Little Elm three. The Hornets were bummed to lose but they are going to work harder for next season and can’t wait to make the playoffs again.

“I am always a proud coach my team,” Lyons said.  “They overcame a lot this year in terms of injuries and a difficult schedule. I am very proud of my team and their hard work.”

Next year will very different because it will be a totally different team with whole new faces. 13 seniors graduated last year and 14 more will graduate this year, which means there are going have a whole new team next year with new faces on the field. This will be an exciting thing for the school and the girls that have been waiting and training hard to have their chance to be on varsity soccer and show the coaches along with everyone what they can give to the team.  

“With 14 seniors, I will definitely miss all of the personalities that I’ve come to know and love over the last two years,” Lyons said.  “It will be difficult saying goodbye to this group.”