Senior co-captain Sydney Suarez-Wallace battles a LASA opponent for possession during the second half of the Raptors 1-0 win over McCallum in District 24-5A play Saturday morning at House Park. After enjoying a hat trick the Saturday before against LBJ, Suarez-Wallace—like her Knight teammates—were unable to find the net against the Raptors despite creating numerous scoring opportunities in the game.
RAPTORS 1, KNIGHTS 0 — Varsity ends season series with win, draw and loss
February 26, 2023
In its third match against LASA this season, the varsity girls’ soccer team lost for the first time.
If we just followed up and finished off our chances to score we could’ve brought the score to 2-1.
— junior Sarah Hauck
Twenty minutes into the first half, the Raptors scored what would turn out to be the game’s only goal.
The Knights kept the pressure up throughout the first half, however, with multiple shots on goal from junior Sarah Hauck.
“I was a lot more aggressive this game, and was putting a lot more out on the line,” Hauck said.
Despite the loss, Hauck says she’s not disappointed in her team’s effort.
“The past games I feel like our intensity wasn’t there,” Hauck said. “Even though we lost, our intensity was there, and we never gave up.”
Hauck also attributes the intensity in this game to the team’s district loss against Ann Richards on Feb. 7 at Ann Richards.
“We are not the team we were last year,” Hauck said. “Our game against Ann Richards has pushed us to be more aggressive. We all have to learn to put in 100%.”
Hauck said the team did exactly that on Saturday even though they didn’t get results from their improved effort.
Even though we lost, our intensity was there, and we never gave up.
— Sarah Hauck
“We had more shots than our last game against LASA,” Hauck said, “but if we just followed up and finished off our chances to score we could’ve brought the score to 2-1.”
The Knights defeated the Raptors 3-2 at the 2023 Longhorn Challenge High School Soccer Preseason Showcase at UT’s Berry M. Whitaker Sports Complex on Jan. 5, and the two teams played to a scoreless draw in their first district matchup on Jan. 23 at Nelson Field. Unlikely to meet again in 2023, the season series between the Knights and Raptors almost certainly ends with each term earning a win, a loss and a draw.
The varsity Knights are back on the pitch 6 p.m. Wednesday against the Eastside Panthers at Nelson Field. On Saturday, the varsity squares off against Travis at 10:45 a.m. at House Park.
![BACK TOGETHER AGAIN: Former McCallum soccer players pose for a group photo at the annual varsity vs. alumni match. The teams of graduated Knights consisted of students as recent as the Class of ‘22 all the way back to 2003. After two years of COVID delays, coach Nick Martin was finally able to hold the match on Dec. 28.
“[The alumni game] provides like a continuity for the program. It doesn’t matter what year you are,” Martin said.
While some organizational changes were made to the event this year, with matches being held tournament style rather than a free-for-all, Martin maintained the spirit of community that the match holds for his past and current players.
“Getting the chance to come back and see each other whilst also playing some soccer is something me and my friends have a hard time turning down,” class of 2021 alumn Aiden Golliher said. “I’d predict and hope that as the years continue, the close-knit community the boys varsity had will continue [and] that will allow this program to grow.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm. Photo by Morgan Eye.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/dsc_2412_52601882073_o-475x317.jpg)
