Marble Falls girls soccer loses to Fredericksburg

CAPTION: Hannah Welch (left) and Avrie Wallace know each other’s tendencies and how to work together, which is why the combined for the Lady Mustangs’ only goal against Fredericksburg. Photo by Ernesto Rivera

The Marble Falls High School girls soccer team lost to Fredericksburg 2-1 March 4 in District 26-4A play.

The Lady Mustangs (9-9-1, 2-5) are fifth in the standings, one place shy of qualifying for the Class 4A playoffs.

Head coach Marisa Miller didn’t blame the heavy winds that plagued the Highland Lakes for much of the day.

“It died down pretty good by the time we played,” she said. “We were right there. It was a tough match. We played hard; we couldn’t put it away.”

Sophomore Hannah Welch scored Marble Falls’ only goal with junior Avrie Wallace assisting to give the Lady Mustangs a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

But the Lady Billies (8-5-3, 2-4-1) converted on a free kick that turned out to be the difference in the contest with about 18 minutes left.

“We … lost our marks for one minute,” the coach said. “It’s like (giving up) a 3-point shot (in basketball). It’s definitely a momentum booster. She scored off a header. That definitely shifted momentum.”

Soccer uses a point system to determine playoff teams. A win is good for three points, a tie awards a point to each squad, and no points are given for a loss.

The Lady Billies, who lost to the Lady Mustangs in the first round of district play, have one fewer loss. Therefore Fredericksburg had 7 points to Marble Falls’ 6. That’s the difference in the point system.

If the two teams finish with the same number of points, a play-in match won’t determine which squad advances to the playoffs. Instead, district rules stipulate they’ll go to head-to-head outcomes as the first tiebreaker, which won’t be used here. The second is the number of goals scored.

“Now we have to score as many goals as we can,” Miller said.

Marble Falls is at San Antonio Davenport (13-2-1, 5-2 second place) Friday, March 7. The Lady Mustangs will welcome Fischer Canyon Lake (11-5-2, 4-1-2 third place) Tuesday, March 11, and end with a road trip to Bandera (3-13-1, 0-7 sixth place) Friday, March 14. On each game night, the junior varsity plays at 5 p.m. and the varsity follows.

Meanwhile, Fredericksburg plays Bandera, Davenport and Wimberley (17-1-1, 6-0-1 first place).

Just how close are the Lady Mustangs to having the season they want? Six of their nine losses have been by a single goal. Still, they control what happens to them.

“We still can do it,” Miller said. “We have to keep working really hard and give it everything we have. We’re right there. We need to push to the next level.”

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Hannah Welch scored the Lady Mustangs’ only goal against Fredericksburg, which proved to be very important in the standings. Photo by Ernesto Rivera