Burnet girls soccer shows its depth at Waco La Vega tourney
CAPTION: The Burnet Lady Dawgs were offensive during their four matches at the Waco La Vega Invitational, scoring 24 goals and yielding only one. Courtesy photo
The Burnet High School girls soccer team went 4-0 at the Waco La Vega Invitational Jan. 5-7.
The Lady Dawgs defeated Corsicana 6-0, Killeen Ellison 6-1, China Spring 4-0 and Waco Harmony 8-0.
“These girls showed up to play,” head coach Kimberly Myhre said. “We scored a total of 24 goals and only had one against us.”
Burnet made a statement early with the victory against Corsicana. Caroline Valencia started the scoring thanks to an assist from Amelia Griffin, Then Lainey Rye found the back of the net on the next two goals with assists from Mekayla Johnson and Kaycie Banton. Freshman Brook Oliva matched Rye’s total and had assists by Griffin and Valencia. Valencia returned Griffin’s assist by setting her up for the final goal of the match.
The Lady Dawgs faced Ellison in the first of two matches Jan. 6. Griffin began this contest the way she ended the win against Corsicana — with goals. She scored two with assists from Oliva and Sam Gaylord. Oliva punched two in herself with assists by Banton and Griffin. Julie Suazo scored when Oliva set her up, and Valencia hit the final unassisted goal.
The match against China Spring was big considering it was a rematch of the bi-district championship last year in which the Lady Dawgs prevailed 1-0.
“We knew they were coming out for blood,” Myhre said. “We rose to the challenge and came out and played hard.”
Oliva scored two with assists from Banton and Griffin. And Griffin finished the scoring and was assisted by Rye and Banton.
The Lady Dawgs stepped on the field determined to end the tournament the way they started it — with a lopsided win. Banton got the scoring going courtesy of an assist from Haylie Bartlett. Griffin responded with a goal of her own thanks to an assist from Banton. Gaylord was next on the scoring and has Oliva to thank for the assist. Emily Wagner got in on the scoring and was assisted by Julie Suazo. Ari Chaves followed on the scoring sheet thanks to an assist by Gaylord. Rye added to the scoring and was assisted by Banton, and Valencia ended the onslaught when Banton set her up for the final goal.
The only goal the Lady Dawgs gave up came on a defensive error. While fans may grin at the team’s irritation on giving up the goal, the Lady Dawgs failed to find the humor.
“It’s a learning curve for us,” Myhre said. “We got a little complacent.”
So when Burnet earned an 8-0 win against Harmony to end the tournament, the coach saw a renewed commitment to learning from errors and displaying it on the field.
“Our last game was a nice win,” she said. “Zero goals (scored against us) was strong.”
Two of the Lady Dawgs’ season goals is to average scoring three goals per match and not yield any. Myhre called that “achievable.”
And the biggest reason Burnet doesn’t score more — with a roster of at least a dozen returners from last year’s Class 4A Region III tournament team — is because the coach won’t allow it.
“I won’t let them go past eight,” she said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of 15-0, and it’s hard to go to school the next day. I vowed I’d never let my teams go past eight.”
The Lady Dawgs will travel to Canyon Lake at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, in what could be a bi-district championship match since both teams are in Class 4A Region IV. Burnet hosts its own tournament beginning with Taylor at 10:30 a.m. and Pflugerville Connally at 7:30 p.m. both on Thursday, Jan. 12, and Canyon Randall at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13.
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