West Plains advances to regional quarterfinals with 3-0 win over Estacado
CANYON — It's probably getting a little old to say at this point, but it's just flat out hard to believe that West Plains is a first-year program.
The Lady Wolves soccer team played a Class 4A area playoff round game against Lubbock Estacado on Tuesday evening at Happy State Bank Stadium and the result was the same as it has been 24 out of 26 times this season: A West Plains victory.
West Plains defeated the Lady Matadors, 3-0, the second time this season it has knocked off Estacado. The Lady Wolves are now 24-1-1 this year and are moving on to the regional quarterfinals to face off against Wichita Falls at 1 p.m. Friday at Lubbock-Cooper High School.
It was another outstanding performance as the Lady Wolves earned their seventh straight shutout. West Plains hasn't allowed a goal since Feb. 21 against Dumas and have surrendered just six goals on the entire season.
"It's an incredible feeling," West Plains coach Amberlee Gerald said. "There's honestly nobody else I'd rather be out on the field with. Our fans are incredible and we couldn't do this without them. Two home games is crazy and it's great to get the atmosphere that we get, but we know that wherever they go they're going to be there with us too, bringing that energy. We're just thankful to see another day."
The result was never in question.
Though they took 32 minutes to score, when Vanessa Baca put one in the back of the net, the Lady Wolves needed 60 additional seconds for Melanie Lujan to put a second on the board. Makayla Gomez added the third early in the second half for the final tally. Kat Torres had two assists while Sydney Lanigan had the third.
Though keeper Bella Hawley got the chance to touch the ball a bit more than she did in the bi-district game, she still had plenty of time by herself thanks in large part to the outstanding defensive play by the Lady Wolves backline.
"Our defense is incredible," Gerald said. "They do their job and protect their goalkeeper like they should, but they know (Hawley) is back there ready to go. She had a couple of moments when they needed her and she comes up strong and ready. She can sing all the songs she wants back there, but she's always ready to go."
The Lady Wolves will need to be ready for their opponent in the next round.
While West Plains is ranked third in the state in 4A, Wichita Falls is ranked seventh and enters the contest with a record of 19-1-1.
West Plains has scored 137 goals on the year, while the Lady Coyotes have netted 112. West Plains has given up just six goals on the year, but Wichita Falls has been just as dominant — yielding 11.
Those statistics do not change anything about the way West Plains will approach the matchup.
"We told the girls that we know that it's going to continue getting harder," Gerald said. "Teams are going to start playing a little bit more like we do and at the level that we do. The best thing that we can do is to keep our mentality, keep our heads on straight, do what we're doing and keep our team unified with our chemistry strong. You can teach all of the skill you want, but when your team truly loves each other, they're going to be successful."
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: West Plains advances to regional quarterfinals with 3-0 win over Estacado
