The Snyder girls soccer team celebrated every goal with sheer enjoyment. When the game was over, they had even more to celebrate.
Snyder, a 4-year-old program that had been outscored 18-0 in its previous two playoff games, beat Graham 4-0 in a Region I-4A bi-district playoff game Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
“No one will ever understand what it means to us, especially us seniors who have been here since the first day,” said Zairah Cabrera, one of seven Snyder seniors, all starters, and a captain who has been with the program since Day 1. “It just means the absolute world because this is what we’ve been working for. This is all we’ve ever wanted.”
Snyder (10-3-2) advances to play Canyon (15-8-1) in the second round early next week. Canyon, the District 2-4A champion, beat Clint 7-0 on Friday.
For a program that had been dominated in its previous two postseason games, the Lady Tigers flipped the script – limiting the Lady Blues to just three shots on goal.
Graham had only one shot on goal in the second half, and it’s debatable if it wasn’t just a free ball senior goalie Sierra Deloera cleared with 6:48 left in the game.
Not that Snyder was overwhelming offensively. Graham possessed the ball much of the game, but the Lady Tigers were efficient. Snyder managed six shots on goal, three each half, but put four in the net.
Graham took 12 shots overall, eight in the first half. Snyder got off 13 shots – seven in the first half. The Lady Tigers scored on their first shot of each half.
Lady Tigers strike quickly
It didn’t take Snyder long to get on the board, either. Vivian Rangel scored from about 25 yards out 3:07 into the game.
The sophomore was so overjoyed at the goal, you would have thought it was a game-winner.
And the Lady Tigers celebrated each score in similar fashion.
“Every goal we make, we’ve learned to celebrate it to the fullest, because each matters so much,” Cabrera said.
Cabrera got her first of two goals on a breakaway with 27:19 left in the half. Rangel had the assist.
Graham didn’t put a ball on frame until 5:42 remained in the half, and the Lady Tigers went into the break leading 2-0.
Snyder pushed its lead to 3-0 just 16 seconds into the second half. Graham goalie Audrey Witherspoon made a diving stop on a Cabrera shot, but sophomore Galilea Olivares chased down the rebound and scored with Witherspoon outstretched on the ground.
Cabrera got her second goal on a shot from close range with 12:34 remaining in the game.
Witherspoon, who played the second half, had one save for Graham (5-15-1), while Vivian Gutierrez had one in the first half.
Dream come true
Once the game was over, the Lady Tigers celebrated one more time.
“It’s definitely a dream come true,” said Chloe Sosa, a senior midfielder and team captain.
Snyder made the playoffs its inaugural season – losing to Dumas 8-0. Then after COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 postseason, the Lady Tigers made the playoffs last year and lost to Brownwood 10-0.
Sosa and Cabrera played in both losses, yet Sosa had little doubt that her team would win Friday.
“We’ve worked really hard for it,” Sosa said. “It’s been our mindset since the beginning. We came in wanting this, and we got it.”
Added Cabrera: “It feels amazing. It means the world, because we’ve worked so hard for this. Since summer, we’ve been working our butts off doing everything possible. We never gave up, and look, we’re here – bi-district champs.”
Cabrera had mixed feelings going into the game. She wasn’t worried about being embarrassed like the two previous postseasons trips. She just didn’t want to lose.
“Not so much the embarrassment just the disappointment – that feeling no one ever wants to feel again of losing,” she said. “It’s that doubt. Will I be good enough today? Will we do good today? Will we have a bad day?”
Burying the seeds of doubt
It’s that doubt second-year coach Jessica Lima has been fighting since Day 1.
“Not a lot changed in terms of the players we have on the field, but a lot changed on our attitude and how we perceived every game, every practice,” Lima said. “We work mentally a lot. That’s one of my biggest things. They know how to play soccer, but they put themselves down.”
And that doubt extended throughout the school and even into the players homes.
It didn’t help that the Lady Tigers had the District 3-4A title snatched from their grasp after a 1-0 loss to Midland Greenwood on March 4 and followed by a 2-2 tie against Lubbock Estacado four days later in the next-to-last district game. That allowed San Angelo Lake View (6-1-1 in district) to win district by a half-game over Snyder (5-1-2 district).
Not getting that gold ball for a district title was heartbreaking, but the Lady Tigers were all smiles after getting one for their first postseason win.
“That’s something we put in our mind – we’re getting a gold ball this year,” Lima said. “We didn’t get the district one, but we’re taking this one home.
“And these girls who have been here since Day 1, they deserve it more than anyone understands. They’ve lived with a lot of doubt – the entire school, other teams and even family. They all doubted them. This proves to all of them and (the players’) themselves that their capable of winning.”
Joey D. Richards covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him at Twitter at ARN_Joey. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here