On May 2nd, the Lady Wranglers faced the Cross Timbers Wolves on their home turf. After several weeks on the road and a bye week during testing, the Lady Wranglers were incredibly excited to be playing again, especially in front of their home crowd. The A team took the field first with high levels of composure and confidence. The moment they stepped out there, everything began to click. Their communication, passes, aggression, spacing, and more were all exactly what we wanted and had been working towards all season. Less than ten minutes into the game, the ball went out at the end line and we had the opportunity to take a corner kick. Madison Hartzell stepped up to take the kick and sent a beautiful ball sailing through the air. The ball bounced once in front of the goal and then went directly into the back of the goal without touching any other player. This was the first goal of the season for the Lady Wranglers, and we were all absolutely elated!

At halftime, the score was 1-0, and the Lady Wranglers knew that the victory was within reach if they did not give up the fight. They stayed strong on defense, kept making aggressive plays on offense, and had many beautiful saves in the goal. As the seconds ticked down, the bench started to yell, jump, and cheer, because they knew it had happened— The Lady Wranglers had WON. After an intense game with a fierce opponent, the final score was 1-0. We could not be more proud of the efforts and hard work of this team to earn our first win of the season.

The B team took the field motivated, excited, and inspired after watching A team’s incredible victory. They started the game off with high levels of energy, confidence, and intensity. They communicated, moved the ball, and spaced themselves out on the field well. The Wolves were playing very well as well, and we knew we would be in for a fight. At halftime, we had each still been able to keep one another from scoring, so the score was still holding strong at 0-0. The Lady Wranglers knew that a win or a tie could lie ahead if they continued to work hard. No matter how close the Wolves got to the goal, the defense and our goalkeeper never let the Wolves get through. In the second half, the offense took many more beautiful runs up the field and were able to get several shots on goal. However, the Wolves keeper was able to stop them from going in. In the final seconds of the game, it was still 0-0 and the Wolves were very close to our goal, but our defense and goalkeeper prevailed and we earned our first tie of the season! After the games concluded, the Lady Wranglers dumped their water bucket on their coach to celebrate the victory and tie.

We want to take a moment to celebrate what a big accomplishment this win is— This is the first win that the Lady Wranglers have recorded in five years! Coppell Middle School West is incredibly proud of the hard work, efforts, and accomplishments of this team and these athletes. We look forward to seeing what is in store for the Lady Wranglers throughout the rest of the season. The B team Wranglers of the Week were Anusri Milaram, Diksha Turwale, and Sadhana Yalamanchili. The A team Wranglers of the Week were Alette Brown, Julia Ting, and Madison Hartzell, who scored A team’s game winning goal.