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Just in Casie: Ramsier provides second-half spark as West bests Flower Mound, 3-1
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
THE COLONY -- In five halves against Flower Mound this season, the Plano West girls soccer team had scored just one goal.
The sixth one proved substantially different as the Lady Wolves, ranked No. 6 in the nation by ESPNHS, scored three goals in the final 40 minutes of Tuesday's regional quarterfinal to defeat the District 8-5A Champion Lady Jags in top 10 national showdown and move on to the Region I Tournament.
No. 5 Flower Mound was 1-0-1 against West prior to Tuesday's game, including a 2-0 victory on March 23 that essentially clinched the district crown for Flower Mound.
Flower Mound displayed that just 50 seconds into the match when AV Vigil cut through the middle and passed off to Laurel DeSilvey. Her shot from 15 yards was tipped up and off the crossbar by West junior keeper Claire Wheatley. DeSilvey and Wheatley faced off again in the 8th minute when the former split a pair of defenders, beat the latter to a 50-50 ball and flipped it in from 12 yards out for a 1-0 Lady Jags lead.
That margin held up for the entirety of the half despite a plethora of looks from West.
The Lady Wolves controlled the majority of the half with junior Brooke Ramsier, junior Casie Ramsier, freshman Nicole Smith and freshman Ashley Smith getting shots on frame. But those attempts were all saved by Lady Jags keeper Jordan Anderson.
"Props to their keeper," said Taylor Jackson, West junior, "she had a great game."
Anderson's exploits kept it 1-0 at the break.
"We had great looks in the first half," Phillips said, "so I told the girls they needed to keep doing what they were doing, but then finish on those great chances."
That message was heeded by the players.
"It was frustrating," Jackson said, "but at the same time I think we all knew we had more to give."
Lady Wolves sophomore Morgan Murphy concurred.
"We had to give all we had in the second half," she said, "or it was going to be our last half."
Casie went a long way toward ensuring that wasn't the case.
The junior forward notched the equalizer 46 seconds into the second half. West junior Sparky Fischer sent a ball in to senior Logan Beal. Beal's shot was denied by Anderson, but Casie was there for the rebound to make it 1-1.
"Coach always tells me to get into the box," Casie said, "because that's where I'm going to score."
West continued to pressure the Flower Mound third with the Lady Jags' only serious counter a 19-yard free kick from Gabi D'Alessandro that was stopped by the West wall. That control resulted in the Lady Wolves' first lead of the night with 12:50 remaining when Casie passed it back to Murphy. The midfielder hooked toward the goal and fired a seemingly innocent shot from 25 yards that when under the keeper's arm.
"I figured if I just shoot, it might go in," Murphy said.
"We tell our girls to shoot whenever they feel like they can get it on frame," Phillips added.
That philosophy put the Lady Jags at a deficit for the first time Tuesday night.
"Our keeper had played really well in the first half," said Trina Hamner, Flower Mound head coach, "which is why I felt like there was some miscommunication on the defense in the second half.
"We gave up those goals and then just couldn't recover."
West didn't give Flower Mound much time to recover as Casie picked up her third point, and second goal, just 33 seconds after Murphy's goal.
"Casie can make things happen," Phillips said. "She is such a hard worker and so skilled on the ball."
Casie charged down the left side of the pitch, tip-toed the line and blasted a goal in from six yards out to put West in front, 3-1, with 12:17 remaining.
"We had gotten the lead, but it was only one goal, so we didn't want to let down," Casie said. "So it was awesome to get the goal that gave us the bigger lead and basically put the game away."
Casie was right as the 3-1 final held up, ending Flower Mound's season and sending West to the Region I Semifinals against El Paso Montwood or Fort Worth Paschal. That match is set for noon Friday from Grande Communications Stadium in Midland.
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