Steers soccer takes first district loss to Old High News Staff Tue, 02/13/2024 - 12:41 pm
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Senior Jesus Lucio (9) competes with multiple Old High players for the ball during Graham’s 2-1 loss to the Coyotes last Friday, Feb. 9. Lucio scored the Steers’ only goal in the game on a free kick in the remaining minutes.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Freshman Thomason Burkett (5) heads the ball to help the Steers gain possession during the Steers’ 2-1 loss to the Old High Coyotes last Friday, Feb. 9.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham defender Lucio Arvizu clears the ball out and moves it upfield for the offense during the Steers’ 2-1 loss to the Old High Coyotes last Friday, Feb. 9.
TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com
The Graham Steers faced a stiff challenge Friday, Feb. 9 when they welcomed the Wichita Falls Old High Coyotes to town for a district matchup.
Although they gave their best effort and nearly managed a comeback, the Steers fell to the Coyotes 2-1. The loss moved Graham to 1-1 in district while Old High sits at 2-0 with a lot of games left to play for both teams.
“I can’t be prouder of them, honestly,” head coach Tim Wankowicz said. “We hung in there and that’s all we can do in district play against teams like this, is hanging in there against them, and that’s exactly what they did. I told them... ‘One thing you didn’t do tonight was quit.’”
Old High brought a high-tempo offense with a lot of accurate passers. The Coyotes spent a lot of time on Graham’s side of the field all night, but for the majority of the game, the Steers managed to keep the visitors out of the goal.
It wasn’t until more than 21 minutes into the game that Old High broke the scoreless tie on a corner kick that was deflected by the Steers but rebounded into the goal by a Coyote player afterwards.
That was the lone blemish for the Steers in the first half as Graham only trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes of game time.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Coyotes continued to put pressure on Graham’s defense.
About nine minutes into the half, one of Old High’s players drew a penalty kick and punched it into the goal to make the score 2-0.
For many minutes after that, the two teams went back and forth on the field.
Old High took more shots on goal but the Steers’ defense and goalkeeper Ozzy Trejo stayed strong.
Graham earned a few shots on goal, as well, in the second half but the opportunities were few and the Steers didn’t have much room for error.
“The defense played phenomenal in the first half. We got a little bit tired in the second half, started having little breakdowns,” Wankowicz said. “I think they also started overloading us. They had a game plan and we hung in there with them; we kept them from scoring (more).”
With just under nine minutes remaining, Graham had begun pushing the ball more on offense and a Coyote foul earned the Steers a free kick. Senior Jesus Lucio took the kick from about 22 yards out on the far side of the field.
The senior midfielder curved a shot all the way across the field to the close side of the goal and over the head of Old High’s goalkeeper for an incredible score to close the gap and make it 2-1.
While the goal brought new energy to the Steers, it wasn’t enough for them to get over the hump as time expired and the visiting Coyotes held on for the 2-1 win.
“I told them at the end of the game, I said, ‘You just proved tonight that you can hang with every team in this district and so we move forward from here and we start winning.’” Wankowicz said. “Then I said, ‘When we go up there (to Wichita Falls) we’re going to take it to them.’”
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