Lady Yoe soccer falls to Lorena in area round of playoffs
The Cameron Lady Yoe soccer team made it to fell to the Lorena Lady Leopards on Tuesday night in the area round of the playoffs.
They traveled to Brenham on Thursday, March 24, to face the Bellville Lady Brahmas in the bi-district round of the playoffs. Cameron shut out Bellville 2-0.
The Lady Yoe buckled down on defense early and survived a corner kick in the sixth minute of the game, then had an excellent save by the goalie, Savannah Nejtek (35) in the eighth minute. Belleville had another chance to score in the tenth minute but missed it wide right. Cameron began to push the ball up the field and missed a shot on goal from Brandi Drake (1) in the 13th minute.
The Lady Yoe continued to put on the offensive pressure and had another missed shot on goal by Mariana Penaloza (2) in the 17th minute. The Lady Brahmas made a push on offense and had a chance to score in the 20th minute but the shot was saved by Nejtek.
The Lady Yoe then survived a free kick in the 21st minute and another free kick in the 25th minute. Bellville came back with another shot on goal in the 29th minute. That attempt was stopped on an incredible save by Nejtek. Cameron turned up the offense and scored the first goal of the game on a shot by Brandi Drake in the 30th minute for a 1-0 lead.
“We were just applying a lot of pressure up high, and their keeper came out and mis-stepped,” Coach Laura Dickson said. “Brandi was able to go around and finish the shot.”
Cameron tried to add to their lead in the 33rd minute with a shot on goal by Ja’Mya Miller (18) but it would be caught by the Bellville goalie. The Lady Brahmas responded with a corner kick in 38th minute but the Lady Yoe survived as the shot went wide right. Cameron went into halftime up 1-0.
The Lady Brahmas came out of the second half pushing their offense and Cameron survived a corner kick and had a save by Nejtek in the 44th minute. Cameron then gave themselves a fastbreak opportunity in the 45th minute by Miller but she would come up empty. That was followed by a miss by Celeste Cardona (7) in the 48th minute. The Lady Yoe continued the offensive pressure with a missed shot on goal by Brandi Drake in the 58th minute.
The Lady Brahmas had fastbreak opportunity that was stopped on a save by Nejtek in the 58th minute, which was followed by a missed fastbreak shot by Cardona in the 59th minute. Cameron had a chance in 64th minute on a free kick but came up empty. Belleville began to apply some pressure on the offense as the Lady Yoe would get incredible saves by Nejtek in the 65th minute and the 67th minute.
“She’s (Nejtek) a senior this year,” Dickson said. “She’s started for me the last few years. The team has a lot of confidence in her, they know she’s got their back when they misplay a ball or when the other team has a shot. I think there’s that trust there between the team and her, so that really helps. I’m super impressed with how she’s come out and played. She had a concussion earlier in the season and wasn’t able to play. Sometimes when you get an injury like that, you might hesitate and not be able to come out and apply that pressure, but it hasn’t slowed her down. She’s been able to come back, and with her applying that pressure down there, being able to be so aggressive, that really helps us to be able to play our style that we play.”
The Lady Yoe responded with a corner kick attempt in the 70th minute but was unable to score. Cameron was put on defense again but survived on a save by Nejtek in the 72nd minute. Cameron began apply pressure on offense once again in relentless fashion, which Coach Laura Dickson believes came from ‘applying really good pressure from the back (backfield) all the way up’.
“As soon as they had possession, we were trying to press and keep them from being able to make passes,” Dickson said. “I’ve got some speed on that backline, and so any balls that went through, we were able to get back and clear or Savannah was able to come out and get those. They didn’t have a whole lot of opportunities to take open shots on the goal.”
The Lady Yoe had chances at a corner kick in the 76th minute and the 78th minute. The relentlessness on offense paid off as Cameron scored a goal by Brandi Drake in the last minute of the game.
“We just kept sending the ball up the field the last couple minutes (of the game),” Dickson said. “We sent a good ball up and through the middle, and she was able to outrun them and took a great shot and touched it away from the keeper and scored that last goal to seal the game.”
Bellville tried to make one last push for a goal in last minute of the game but the shot was saved by Nejtek, and Cameron came out with the exciting 2-0 victory. The next opponent was a familiar opponent in the Lorena Lady Leopards, the team that handed Cameron the heartbreaking area round exit last year.
“They’re just a great team,” Dickson said. “We’re just going to have to really communicate and play fully as a team. They’re a great team so we’re going to go out and play Lady Yoe soccer the best that we can.”
Unfortunately, the Lady Yoe were shut out by Lorena on Tuesday 4-0.