The Cooper City Lady Cowboys soccer team had their first district playoff game on Wednesday, January 24, against the Flanagan Falcons. The Cowboys have already played this team twice this season, winning both games. The game ended with a Cowboy win of 3-2, giving the Cowboys a chance to win districts on Friday, January 26. This would be the second year in a row the Lady Cowboys won districts.
The first half of the game of the game was extremely intense, with fouls being called all over the field, making it a rocky start for the Cowboys. Head captain Olivia Lewis, received a yellow card after the first eight minutes of the game. Following Lewis, the leading goal scorer of the season, Vikki Ramos, also received a yellow card. The Falcons kept up a good game, forcing both teams to give it their all to make it to the district final game. Going into halftime, tensions were extremely high, and it was still a 0-0 game.
Coming back from the halftime and a speech by head coach Steve Cardona, the Cowboys seemed to be revived and anxious to score. Ten minutes into the second half, sophomore Kimberly Slinkosky scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Olivia Lewis. The Cowboys were up 1-0. Fifteen minutes later, Vikki Ramos passed the ball off to Abbi Gilchrist who then scored the second goal of the night. All of a sudden, into the last 20 minutes of the half, the Falcons sparked a flame in their game and scored, making it 2-1.
The game was getting more intense, with both teams going back and forth. Jasmin O’Hara ended up receiving a yellow card, making it the third one for the Cowboys. After a miscommunication in the back line, the Falcons capitalized on the Cowboy mistake, tieing the game 2-2 with just 10 minutes left. The game was nail-biting for the crowd to watch – the next to score would determine who was going to move on. Five minutes until the game would be sent into overtime, Kelly Nelson got the ball over to Kimberly Slinkosky, who scored her second goal of the game, putting the Cowboys ahead by one goal to win the game. The final whistle blew and the Cowboys won with a score of 3-2, moving onto district finals Friday night.
After a long stressful game the Cowboys came out with a win, proving how hard they worked and never giving up. After working hard all season, it was the Cowboy’s chance to prove themselves.
Final score: Cooper City 3, Flanagan 2
Photo by Benjamin Milgram
