Texas HS Girls: Seven Lakes vs. Jordan
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District play is almost completed in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) high school soccer season in Texas and teams around the Lone Star State are making a final push for a spot in the playoffs. Prep Soccer will be following…
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Continue ReadingDistrict play is almost completed in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) high school soccer season in Texas and teams around the Lone Star State are making a final push for a spot in the playoffs.
Prep Soccer will be following several of the matches taking place in the Houston area and reporting on them, highlighting the Top Performers and sharing photos of the encounters. On Tuesday, March 5, we followed the matchup between two of the top teams in District 19, the Seven Lake Spartans and the Jordan Warriors, in Katy.
Playing at home, Seven Lakes took control of the match to deliver Jordan their first district upset in the season, taking advantage of long-distance shots from Anuhea Aalona in the first half and Wagoner Towsen Wagoner Towsen F TX in the second to produce a 2-0 victory. The Warriors now have ten wins, one loss and two ties, while the Spartans got to nine wins, two losses and one tie.
These were some of the top performers in the match:
Reed’s ability to perform multiple roles at a very high level was extremely valuable for the Spartans as she played four different positions during the match and helped fill out the lineup as needed. The junior probably had her best moments at right back, having a very strong start to the match, consistently pushing forward and helping the team create chances. Reed created problems for Jordan in a variety of ways, making runs down the flank, bringing the ball inside and sending long passes behind their backline. She was also very solid defensively, not allowing any chances to be created in her area of the field and making a couple of critical tackles inside and around the penalty box. Because of her ability to dribble the ball, she drew several fouls, many of which were in dangerous areas of the field. Reed also played left back, right winger and striker, using her pace to make runs in open space in transition plays near the end.
A freshman, Lumpkin was excellent in midfield for Seven Lakes, doing a very good job in terms of shielding the team’s backline. She played with good energy and was very smart to win duels in the center of the field. Lumpkin was tasked with defending Jordan’s main playmaker Madison Lambert Madison Lambert F Jordan | 2024 TX and remained very tight to her, limiting her opponent’s ability to get on the ball around the penalty box and create dangerous chances. The midfielder was solid with her passing too, keeping her errors very low and finding teammates in good spots.
Highlights
Chloe Callahan
Chloe Callahan
Winning the midfield battle was one of the main reasons why the Spartans got the win and that wouldn’t be possible without Callahan’s intensity on the field. She played a little bit deeper than she usually does, at times operating on a double pivot with Lumpkin, and covered a lot of ground, helping her team dominate the center of the field and not allowing space for Jordan to create. Her intense movement on and off the ball kept the team ticking and helped them dictate the pace of the match. Callahan was also very active when in possession, finding good passes and making aggressive runs with the ball through the middle and the flanks.
Seven Lakes’ main playmaker, Towsen was very active offensively during the entire match. She didn’t get on the ball a lot around the penalty box in the first 30 minutes of the match, but did a good job of dropping deeper to facilitate the team’s buildup with intelligent passes and shifts and to try to send long passes behind Jordan’s backline. She also ran a lot without the ball, helping her team win duels and regain possession in the middle. Towsen scored the team’s second goal with an amazing shot from 30 yards out that gave the Spartans some room to breathe in a critical moment of the match.
Anuhea Aalona
Anuhea Aalona
The sophomore forward came off the bench during the first half and ignited the Spartans’ offense with her relentless movement. Aalona put a lot of pressure on Jordan’s backline with her intensity and immediately created goal-scoring opportunities, finding the back of the net with a beautiful left-footed shot from outside the penalty box. She played all three positions up top, using her pace to explore the space available on the wings and her dribbling ability to beat opponents in the middle. Her ability to hold the ball in the final third was also much welcomed as the Spartans managed to keep possession in the final minutes and avoid a late Jordan surge.
Grace Robertson Grace Robertson 5'9" | D Jordan | 2025 TX
Grace Robertson Grace Robertson 5'9" | D Jordan | 2025 TX
Playing in the middle of Jordan’s backline, Robertson was the team’s most consistent defender. She started the match very well, making anticipations and winning duels and helped her team keep the Spartans away from the penalty box for most of the match, not allowing any close-range finishes. Robertson was also very good at reading plays and on some occasions, she would step up from the backline and join the midfield line to make stops. She was moved to midfield during the second half and tried to help the team create chances with her passing.
On a night where Jordan’s offensive players didn’t have a lot of success in combining to make plays, Ledbetter’s runs were at times the team’s most effective weapons. She had a big challenge being defended by two of Seven Lakes’ best players in the match, outside backs Kennedy Reed Kennedy Reed null | D Seven Lakes | 2025 State TX and Sydney Hill, but never stopped trying to make things happen and had a few dangerous runs, even if they didn’t result in shots on target. Ledbetter started the match on the left and ended it on the right, keeping her intensity level high until the end. She also contributed defensively, tracking back to help the team fight for the ball and using her aerial ability to intercept throw and clear balls from the penalty box in set pieces.