Cowboys Beat Plano West, Fall to Grand Prairie
Senior Austin Michealis controls the ball against Plano West.
Last Friday, In a battle of top-ranked teams in the state, the Coppell Cowboys soccer team traveled to Standridge Stadium where they defeated the Plano West Wolves 2-1, to keep the Cowboys alive in the playoffs. Tuesday, the Cowboys traveled to Irving where they played Grand Prairie. The Cowboys (19-3-1) fell to Grand Prairie (26-1) in a very intense game. In the game of soccer, the margin for error is incredibly slim which was shown in both of these games.
On Friday, the #1 in the state Cowboys faced off against #3 Plano West in a game which looked to be a classic from the start. The Cowboys looked strong from the start with the defense on the same page and the offense firing on all cylinders. In just the tenth minute of the game, Senior Forward Stephen Tower juked out two defenders before firing a beautiful shot that put the Cowboys’ up 1-0. “We got on them early. We put a lot of pressure on them. We were able to keep them in that final third, and keep things really tight,” Cowboys coach Chad Rakestraw said. The game was back and forth until Senior Roberto Arguello extended the Cowboys lead to 2-0. The Cowboys went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead but knowing that the wind would be coming at their faces in the second half they weren’t content with it. The Cowboys came out a little lackadaisical and it ended up in a Plano West goal to cut the lead to 2-1. Though there it wasn’t the prettiest of wins, Coach Rakestraw was pleased. “There are a few very small things that we need to improve on,” Rakestraw said. After Plano West had many good scoring opportunities, the Cowboys pulled out the win to advance to regional quarterfinals.
Tuesday, the Cowboys fell to a very good team in Grand Prairie. As it did last game, the game started off with an early goal by Stephen Tower to give the Cowboys the early lead. About a minute later, the referee called a controversial penalty kick against the Cowboys which Grand Prairie converted to even the score at one. After both teams had many opportunities, Junior forward Tanner Traw threw a long throw which was headed into the goal to give the Cowboys’ back the lead. Grand Prairie then switched their goalies which seemed to be a huge momentum swing. The Cowboys’ held the lead at the half. Just minutes into the second half, Grand Prairie scored a beautiful goal to tie the game at 2-2. The Cowboys then responded with a beautiful cross from Tanner Traw which was converted into a goal. But, after originally calling a goal, the referee changed his mind and called it offsides. This angered the Coppell fans to say the least. Grand Prairie responded with a goal to give them the 3-2 lead with 20 minutes left in the game. After countless scoring opportunities, the buzzer rang marking not only the end of the Cowboys’ season but an era. Seniors Stephen Tower, and Austin Michealis were both part of the teams’ two state runs. Though they had an early exit, the Cowboys have truly established themselves as not only a dynasty but a benchmark for high school soccer in the state of Texas. The Cowboys’ finished the season ranked third in the nation.
