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In a district loaded with talented teams, the Elgin girls and boys soccer teams are holding their own.
Both squads took on Georgetown, Bastrop and Pflugerville last week, each tallying a win to avoid plummeting in district standings. The Lady Wildcats are ranked fourth in their district with a 3-3 record which is tied with Bastrop. The boys are 2-4 and tied with Cedar Creek for the fifth spot.
Neither team was able to pull out a victory against the Georgetown Eagles on Monday, Feb. 6. The girls fell, 4-0, to an undefeated Lady Eagles team, and the boys were narrowly defeated 2-1.
The following night, Elgin battled county rival Bastrop. Both contests went down to the wire.
The Lady Wildcats went on the road to face the Lady Bears in what was a low-scoring affair. The Elgin defense, which has been a strength of the team all season, performed at a high-level once again. Yet, the Lady Bears finally found the back of the net in the second half and shut out the ‘Cats to win 1-0.
Meanwhile, the Elgin boys jumped out to an early 1-0 lead versus Bastrop. The Wildcat defense did a commendable job neutralizing lethal scorers like James Ramon to hold the Bears scoreless in the first half. The Bears ultimately cashed in a goal in the second half, but the Wildcats scored once more to win 2-1.
The Elgin girls were victorious on Friday, Feb. 10 as they hosted the Pflugerville Panthers. The final score of 1-0 wasn’t indicative of Elgin’s utter dominance throughout the contest.
Both squads traded possessions early on, but after about 10 minutes into the game, the Lady Wildcats were in the driver’s seat. They displayed dominant ball control and excellent open field passing. The score was 0-0 at halftime, but the ‘Cats had Pflugerville on its heels as Dory Estrada and Kailyn Cook nearly scored on multiple occasions.
It was the same story in the second half. Elgin continuously fired off shots-on-goal and finally broke through with a go-ahead score at the 25-minute mark. Katelyn Muñoz converted the goal with the help of an assist by Joy Segura.
Later in the half, the Lady Panthers stormed down the field and looked poised to score the tying goal. However, goalkeeper Juliet Almazan made a remarkable save, keeping Pflugerville off the board. The Elgin defense held strong down the stretch and pitched their seventh shut-out of the season.
Cook, though she wasn’t able to cash in a score, was electric from start to finish. The sophomore had several shots-on-goal and showcased her blazing speed, zipping past Pflugerville defenders repeatedly in the open field.
The Wildcat boys lost to the Panthers on the same night. It was 0-0 at the break, but the game broke open in the second half. Both offenses began to hit their stride. Yet, the Panthers found the back of the net once more than the Wildcats to lock up a 2-1 victory.
Next up, the Elgin squads will face Hendrickson on Tuesday, Feb. 14 and East View on Friday, Feb. 17.
