Marble Falls girls soccer’s win starts vigorous offseason
The Marble Falls High School girls soccer team ended the season with a 8-0 thumping of Bandera March 13.
The Lady Mustangs (10-11-1, 3-7) were led by Dulce Macias Garcia who had 2 goals and 2 assists. Ashley Ferreira had a goal and an assist. Fernanda Perez scored on an assist from Ava McNamara, while Madison Hardaway scored on an assist from Taylor Brydon. Unassisted goals came from Ruby Hills Katie Terrell.
Marble Falls had advanced to the playoffs the last two years, but realignment kicked the program south where the Lady Mustangs faced squads that featured players who play the sport year around. For many of those athletes, soccer is the only sport they play on select teams with their teammates. That fact made the district campaign extremely competitive.
Wimberley (21-1-2, 8-0-2) won the district crown followed by San Antonio Davenport (18-2-1, 8-2) and Fischer Canyon Lake (14-6-3, 5-2-3).
Both Wimberley, at No. 6, and Davenport, at No. 9, were ranked in the top 10 of the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 4A regular season poll.
But since the playoffs started, voters have split the poll into Class 4A Division I (large schools) and Class 4A Division II (small schools). Davenport is ranked No. 9 in the Division I poll, while Wimberley is ranked No. 2 in the Division II poll.
And though Canyon Lake (14-6-3, 5-2-3) isn’t ranked, the Lady Hawks, Wimberley and Davenport are preparing for the regional semifinals, which are scheduled to be played this weekend.
The fourth-place team, Fredericksburg, lost to Burnet 5-4 in the first round of the playoffs.
Ironically, Fredericksburg beat Marble Falls 2-1 March 4 after the Lady Mustangs defeated the Lady Billies 3-0 Feb. 11. Canyon Lake beat Marble Falls 1-0 Feb. 18 on a windy and chilly night and 4-1 March 11.
The March loss to Fredericksburg paved the way to the final district standings.
The fact the district is performing well in the playoffs isn’t shocking to Marble Falls because of the depth and talent in the district.
“We’ve talked a lot about that with the team captains,” Marble Falls head coach Marisa Miller said. “A lot of those players have been playing together for a long time and have been playing at a high level for a long time.”
She envisions a very different offseason than what the Lady Mustangs experienced last spring. The program had a coaching change and Miller wasn’t here to guide the spring offseason preparations.
Getting physically stronger is a must, she said, because the Lady Mustangs must be able to hold their ground and fight for the ball better. They also must improve their ball-handling skills “to compete with the players in this competitive district,” the coach said.
She wants to see a well attended summer strength-and-conditioning program led by coordinator Karl “Beef” Bielfeldt, who she plans to work with to create an offseason program that will best benefit the players.
The good news is the 2024 team didn’t have a senior on the roster, so each one is expected to return.
“I think this season definitely showed us what we’re up against and what we need to do to compete,” Miller said. “We have to be stronger, we have to be faster.”
Also ranked in the top 25 poll was Brownwood at No. 21 with its 18-5-1 record, 7-1 in District 5-4A to be co-champions. One of those five losses was to the Lady Mustangs. The Lady Lions’ season ended in a 4-0 loss to Life Waxahachie in the first round of the playoffs March 20.
