Tues., Feb. 14th, 2006 2-14 Lee-Abilene girls soccer
Len Hayward
Sports Editor
Midland Reporter-Telegram
02/14/2006
Halee Hamm was not shy when she said the Lee girls soccer team underestimated Abilene High on Tuesday. But when the Lady Rebels found their rhythm they were able to come away with a convincing 4-0 District 3-5A victory at Grande Communications Stadium.
Lee had a sluggish start to the game, but came back with three goals late in the first half and one more in the second to give them some needed momentum heading into next week's game against district power Odessa Permian. "We came out thinking they were a worse team than they actually were," said Hamm, who scored two goals and had an assist. "We had to refocus because we didn't want to get beat by a team we know we should beat." Lee improves to 3-1 in District 3-5A and 10-3 overall, and will have a bye this weekend before they take on the Lady Panthers next week.
Early in Tuesday's game, though, the Lady Rebels did not look like a team that could challenge Odessa Permian. Lee looked disorganized on offense and defense in the first 10 minutes of the game, and had trouble finishing scoring chances. But once coach Amanda Melchor made some adjustments and the players responded to them, Lee showed the type of firepower that makes it a playoff contender. Jocelyn Rascon put the Lady Rebels on the board in the 28th minute when she beat an Abilene High defender and sent a low shot past Abilene High goalkeeper Jourdan Bradshaw.
That goal provided the spark Lee needed. Hamm scored the first of two goals seven minutes later of an assist by Allison Weimer for a 2-0 advantage. Hamm struck again in the 38th minute when she booted home a nice center pass from Rascon for a three-goal Lady Rebel advantage.
"For a while they didn't know where they were supposed to be," Melchor said. "We started making some adjustments from the sidelines and we got them playing their position instead of everyone else's." After the three goals in the first half, the Lady Rebels dominated play in the second and gave Abilene High (3-7, 0-4) no space to create scoring chances, holding the Lady Eagles without a shot in the final 40 minutes. "This wins helps us keep our confidence heading into Permian," Hamm said.
