Playoff barrier broken as Lady Cats claim area championship

Photo/Jim Jackson Lady Cat goalie Melissa Camp makes a crucial save in the second half of Whitehouse's 2-0 playoff win over Port Neches Grove. The Lady Cats had a bye in the round of bidistrict, and the win over Port Neches earned them the area championship. The girls will next play Pine Tree or Brenham on Friday.

The Lady Cats traveled to Huntsville on Tuesday and these girls came to play soccer!

Whitehouse met Port Neches Grove on the Sam Houston College Soccer field at 5:30. Whitehouse scored first on a bobble by the Port Neches Grove goalie. Lindsay Pritchard took advantage of this and fired the ball into the net.

Melissa Camp successfully defended a penalty kick by Port Neches Grove and kept them scoreless in the first half. The second goal was from a hotly contested throw in that Pritchard gathered in and sent the ball to the back of the net with a left-footed shot for her second goal with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.

During the second half, Melissa Camp made a flying stop to keep the score at 2-0 and record her first shutout of the post season. The girls are now the area champs and will ad- vance to the regional quarterfinals Friday in Huntsville.

"It feels good to finally break the tradition and prove people wrong. It feels even better if you do it your senior year," said Jordan Jackson.

Fellow senior Julie Woolverton added, "It makes you realize the hard work we put in this year pays off. I told the team I was not ready to finish playing with them and thanks to them we are still playing."

"Since the four years I have been here this is the best team we have had. I am so proud of us for fulfilling all our goals this year and having high expectations of ourselves," added Giselle Bryce-Coates. "I feel privileged to be a senior and lead such a great group of girls."

Coach Brad Jones enthusias- tically shared his thoughts after the win: "It's great to finally break the cycle of losing in the area round. This should give the team confidence in their next game. They should now be able to relax and play our game."

The crowd who attended the game was small but their voice was loud. Let's make the numbers larger for this Friday game and support the girls in their journey to state!

-- Reported by Pat Millican