SWEETWATER – The Brownwood Lady Lions earned an area round rematch with powerhouse San Elizario thanks to Friday’s 4-1 victory over Midland Greenwood in Class 4A Region I bi-district playoff action.
The Lady Lions (13-5-2) will tangle with San Elizario at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Ratliff Stadium in Odessa, looking to avenge last year’s season-ending 8-0 loss.
Against Greenwood Friday, the Lady Lions scored twice in a 17-second span within the first six minutes of the contest to produce all the goals second-year head coach Alexis Mosqueda’s squad would need.
“That’s what I told them getting off the bus,” Mosqueda said. “This is win or go home and we have to start off fast. They’re taught to do that and they did a great job. I’m just so excited that they can share this together.”
At the 34:27 mark of the first half, Molly Oliver’s effort led to the first goal as she fired a shot from the right edge in front of the goal, where the ball deflected off the shin of a Greenwood player and into the net to give Brownwood a 1-0 edge.
Then, just 17 seconds later, Watts Jones delivered from 15 yards out on the right side as her shot barely cleared the outstretched arms of the Greenwood goal keeper, and snuck just under the cross bar for a 2-0 cushion at the 34:10 juncture.
The Lady Lions escaped four head-on shots at the goal by Greenwood in the first half, all of which were off the mark, then Oliver found the net at the 8:18 mark, with an assist from Jones, to stretch the advantage to 3-0 at halftime.
“Molly played lights out today,” Mosqueda said. “She’s always there on cross balls and she’s ready for those to crash the goal. I’m proud of the way she played today and the way she showed up and that’s all we can ask.”
Greenwood continued to pressure the Brownwood defense in the second half, finally lighting up the scoreboard with 20:45 remaining. From that point on, however, the Lady Lions regained firm control as the Greenwood offense struggled to establish any momentum the rest of the way.
“In the first half they played really well together,” Mosqueda said of the defense. “In the second half they slipped a bit, but after that little slip they weren’t going to let another goal go by. They got it together as soon as they scored that goal.”
The Lady Lions regained their three-goal advantage with 6:22 left on the clock as Oliver beat a double team and found the net from 10 yards out on the right side to round out the scoring.
