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Semi-Final Exam: West defeats Klein Oak, 2-0, moves into state championship match
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
During a practice earlier in the week, Plano West senior Karson Keogh admitted she doesn't "score a lot of goals."
That wasn't the case Thursday from Birkelbach Field in Georgetown though as Keogh may have scored the most important goal of the season for the Lady Wolves, converting a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead over Klein Oak in an eventual 2-0 Class 5A State Semifinal triumph.
"I make Karson work on [penalty kicks] all the time in practice," said Carley Phillips, West head coach. "She is really consistent, so we knew we wanted her to take this one."
"Yeah, there was a nice ping there," Phillips said. "It was a little nerve-wracking."
Keogh's 18th-minute goal capped off a controlling start to the game.
"We felt good about 10 minutes in," Phillips said. "We had a little more possession and control, were getting behind their back line and had some good chances."
One of those chances developed in the 18th minute as sophomore Tori Gates got in the box and crossed the ball to junior Casie Ramsier in front of the goal.
"They went for a tackle and Casie just got annihilated," Phillips said.
That led to Keogh's penalty kick and West's 1-0 advantage.
That edge didn't slow the team's aggression as the Lady Wolves continued to control the bulk of possession and put a number of chances up against Klein Oak's Shannon Coffer. The Lady Panthers keeper was up to the task more often than not though, breaking up a number of opportunities (including a 1 v. 1) to keep the score at 1-0.
But Coffer's string of stops wouldn't last the half.
"We knew their keeper was good, but we also knew she was extremely aggressive off her line," Phillips said. "Sometimes that can be good, but it can also cost you."
It was the latter in the 40th minute as Coffer found herself out of position.
After Coffer moved off her line to knock a ball out, West freshman Ashley Smith took possession 30 yards out with eyes on an open net. Smith, however, passed to Gates, who got a one-touch shot off from 25 yards that had just enough to give West a 2-0 lead with 27 seconds remaining in the half.
That score remained at the break, but West wasn't overly confident considering it faced a 2-0 halftime deficit just five days earlier in the Region I Finals against Flower Mound Marcus and came back to win, 3-2, in a shootout.
"The girls knew full well from our last match," Phillips said, "that 2-0 can be a deceiving score."
It wasn't this go around as the second half was scoreless.
Not for a lack of chances though as the Lady Wolves and Lady Panthers made runs into the offensive third.
"We wanted to bring the same intensity and pressure as the first half because I felt like we were wearing them down," Phillips said. "Give credit to Klein Oak though, they kept pushing and forced us to work; but our defense did well."
With the backline of Keogh, juniors Taylor Jackson, Midori Rinkliff, sophomore Jalynn Barron and junior keeper Claire Wheatley keeping the Lady Panthers off the board, about the only thing that went wrong for the Lady Wolves came in the 58th minute when sophomore Morgan Murphy left the game after taking a shot while going up for a header.
"Morgan has a bit of a knot on her eye," Phillips said. "We'll watch that, but Morgan is a tough kid and I think she'll be OK."
Without Murphy, West kept its multi-goal lead intact, winning 2-0.
This was Klein Oak's third state tournament appearance and second semifinal defeat. The other came in 1988 to Plano Senior, which went on to win the Class 5A State Championship. The Lady Wildcats have won five state titles, a mark the Lady Wolves are now one win from matching.
But a 2-0 win didn't earn West a day off as the team practiced Friday at Southwestern University to prep for Saturday's state final against Katy Seven Lakes (results not available at press time, but online at: planostar.com).
The Lady Spartans beat San Antonio Churchill, 2-1 in a shootout, in Thursday's other semifinal.
"The hype and excitement is there, now it just comes down to playing our game," Phillips said. "There isn't an overwhelming sense of jubilation or joy right now because the team knows there is one more game to go. The girls know how hard they have worked for this and I know how bad they want a state title."
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