With many key players missing from the roster due to a club tournament, Plano West girls soccer head coach Carley Phillips said she had complete confidence in Friday's patchwork lineup.

"I told the girls this was their night to shine," she said, "and I think they absolutely did that."

Results would back up Phillips' statement as the Lady Wolves (6-0-1 in district) scored a goal in each half to pick up a 2-0 victory over Plano Senior (1-6). The Lady Wildcats were short starters Friday night as well, but didn't use that as an excuse.

"There were still 11 girls out there for each team," said Diane Davey, Plano head coach. "It doesn't matter who is out there, these girls are still soccer players."

While not getting on the board until precisely 15 minutes had elapsed, West controlled the prior 14:59. The Lady Wolves proved adept at slicing through the middle third of the field and that resulted in corners for seniors Natalie Gibson and Karson Keogh. Those attempts didn't equal goals, but a 30-yard pass from junior Caitlin Sheehan did as she found junior Alexa Rogers in stride, allowing her to split two defenders and go top shelf from 15 yards for a 1-0 West lead.

"We have been talking about through balls in the final third," Phillips said. "That led to a good chance there and we were able to finish."

West nearly doubled its lead in the 24th minute when junior Ashleigh Bibby and freshman Ashley Smith both got looks on a loose ball in the box before Plano junior Lauren Perry sent out a ball that was rolling toward the net.

The Lady Wildcats' didn't have as many first-half chances, but some were there.

Primarily on the foot of Taylor Cornelius. The sophomore just missed a through ball to junior Kathryn Danhauser in the 14th minute and got an even better opportunity in the 26th minute when she made a run down the right side before clanging her shot off the crossbar.

"We had some chances," Davey said. "You don't get a lot of those against this team and we didn't capitalize."

Plano's chances dried up in the second half with Bibby, Sheehan, Keogh and junior Midori Rinkliff creating a wall in front of freshman keeper Arianna Jopling.

"I thought Karson and Midori really held it together in the back," Phillips said.

West continued to assert positional dominance in the second half with a physical attack that worked its way past the Plano defense, despite solid play from seniors Ashlee Trotter and Izzy Valdez, and often had the Lady Wildcats backpedaling.

Among those establishing West's forward momentum was freshman Whitney Brown, who normally is a junior varsity defender. Brown showed a spot up front may suit her as she made continual runs down the left side, most notably in the 73rd minute. There, a corner from Gibson led to a shot from junior Gabby Hadley that went off the bar with Brown there for the put-back and a 2-0 Lady Wolves lead.

"Whitney was giving lots of effort tonight," Phillips said. "She just kept attacking and it was good to see that pay off."

Brown's goal was the final of the night as West picked up the 2-0 win.

That victory keeps West alone atop the District 8-5A standings at the midway point.

"This was the close to the first half, so we definitely wanted the two points here," Phillips said. "But now it's almost like a whole new season so we will need to start over. We have been playing well as a team, but we still need to refocus now and find ways to keep improving."

Improvement is a theme Davey touched on as well.

"We'd like to see an improved performance ... and I think getting healthy would help that," she said. "We will be focusing on sorting out tactical advantages and certainly scoring some goals would help, but we also need our players on the field to step up."

They will get that opportunity at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday when Plano hosts Allen at Clark Stadium. West travels to Lewisville at the same time.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...