Cowgirls Varsity Lacrosse Primed for District Playoff Run.

The Coppell High School Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team opened the THSGLL North District Playoffs on Thursday night with a decisive 15-5 victory over the 7^th seeded Ursuline Bears. The 2^nd seed Cowgirls (7-1 in District play) were led by senior attacker Lauren Cullison and sophomore Mia Harp who each tallied 4 goals apiece along with an arsenal of strong dodges and finishes by the remaining Coppell front line. In all, seven other Cowgirls made the scoring line against the Bears. Sophomore Taylor Greaves scored on Coppell’s opening possession just 17 seconds into the first period and the Cowgirls never looked back in advancing to the second round. Also contributing on offense were sophomores Charlotte Hayden and Elizabeth Sapp and senior Kailey Visocky with 1 goal and 1 assist each to go along with one goal apiece from sophomores Delaney Dendy and Ashley Bartlett and junior Marin Hulme. Greaves added two assists to her opening goal to complete the scoring line for the Cowgirls.

Ursuline, who finished 2-6 in the District this year, lost earlier in the season to the Cowgirls by a single goal and showed the ability to stay with Coppell’s team speed up and down the field for most of the night. The Bears were North District Champs last season and State Runners-up losing to St Johns in the Finals. At that time, Ursuline had All-American Goalie Jennifer Blum ’13 (Notre Dame) between the pipes. This night, the Bears threw Kathryn Blase at the Cowgirls and, despite the junior’s herculean 9-save effort, were unable to slow the Coppell scoring onslaught as the Cowgirls outshot the Bears 28-14 and controlled the tempo for most of the game. Defensively for the Cowgirls, Sophomore Kailey Rivera once again proved why defense matters in girls’ lacrosse as she snagged 6 ground balls, created 3 turnovers and continually frustrated the Bears attack line. Sophomore Morgan Widener kicked in another 2 steals and senior goalie Ines Flueck turned away 7 shots in the second half to seal the victory for Coppell.

With the win, Coppell advances to round 2 on Saturday for what should be a rematch with #3 Seed Highland Park. The Cowgirls and Scots split 2 games this season with Coppell winning the most recent by a score of 6-2 at Scot Stadium. First toss will be at 3:00 p.m. at North Park in Southlake with the District Final occurring on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Come cheer on the Cowgirls as they push on toward the Championship Game.

Story by John Eden