By Zach Warner
The Southlake Journal
Every high school sports team wants to put together a strong start to the season. But what matters the most is how a team performs during its district schedule.
Carroll's boys and girls soccer teams would be hard-pressed to compile a better non-district performance, with a combined record of 16-2-3. However, they know the true test comes once they begin competing against their challenging 6-5A opponents.
The Carroll boys (10-1-1 before Tuesday) feel good about their chances to compete with the best, but know they can't consider themselves an outright leading candidate to win district with opponents such as Marcus and Coppell with which to contend.
"Marcus has won state two of the last three years and won district every year for the last four or five years," coach Greg Oglesby said. "Coppell has been second in district the last 4-5 years as well.
"Until we accomplish something like that, those teams are ahead of us," he said. Hebron, Flower Mound and Lewisville can't be taken lightly, either, Oglesby said. The goal is to minimize mistakes and then take advantage of other teams when they slip, he said.
Carroll faces a good test right off the bat when they travel to Coppell (5-1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"They're a little more direct," Oglesby said of the Cowboys. "They're probably more of a physical team and athletic team, where we're probably a better technical and tactical team."
The Lady Dragons (6-1-2 before Tuesday) suffered its first loss of the season to Highland Park, 3-2, on Jan. 26, and played nationally-ranked McKinney Boyd on Tuesday. Those games should help when Carroll faces its elite district competition.
However, Lady Dragons coach Matt Colvin wants to make sure his team avoids squandering opportunities like it has a few times in the non-district.
"We're generating a lot of shots and opportunities, we're just not finishing and putting them in the back of the net right now," he said. Carroll's test comes right off the bat, hosting reigning 5A state champion Coppell and star player Chioma Ubogagu at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"We need to know how to contain her and work to take away some of her chances," Colvin said.
For this complete article, full Carroll sports coverage and Southlake community news read The Southlake Journal every Friday or online at www.southlakejournal.com.
