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Down two goals with just over 10 minutes left on the clock in their final non-district game of the season Monday, the Lady Rattlers played some of their best ball of the season.
San Marcos nearly pulled off the comeback, but ran out of time to score the equalizer, falling to Incarnate Word inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium, 2-1.
“I think that game will set the tone for, hopefully, you know, it's not all about the scoreboard always,” head coach Jason Carnley said. “No one likes to lose games but we've got to learn from it. And hopefully this will be a growing experience and district's going to be no joke.”
The hosts gave up their first score just before halftime and surrendered another with 23 minutes left in the second. Still, the Lady Rattlers held possession for the majority of the match and had a handful of open looks at the goal. The team just struggled to finish off its chances.
“The first one was just an unlucky bounce off a defender,” Carnley said. “The keeper was probably trying to call for ball, she had a chance to get it and the person from the other team was at the right place at the right time. The second one, it was on a set, (the ball) bounced around a bunch of times and someone's wide open and no one closed down or pressured hard enough, which is one of those things that you have to just work on, you know, being up higher, stepping up a little faster, pressuring a little harder.”
With the clock winding down, San Marcos got more aggressive. The ball fell into the Lady Cardinals’ box, where the Lady Rattlers pressured the back line.
After the ball ricocheted across multiple players, freshman Rowan Gardner found a crease in the defense and knocked the ball past the goalkeeper to get the hosts on the board.
“Gardner's good, she's got a lot of potential,” Carnley said. “She's got a lot of growing to do, she's gotta settle down and be more confident. And she will. She's gonna be one of those kids that can be a bright spot for the future. And hopefully this year, she's gonna put some points on for us.”
The team kept fighting as the time wound down, but couldn’t get another shot to go, taking the 2-1 loss. Carnley was still proud of the effort. He hopes that it’ll help as the team begins district play on Friday at San Antonio East Central at 7:15 p.m.
“As soon as we got that goal, man, it clicked on quick. I wished it was 30 minutes earlier but, you know, it is what it is. But we fight the last 10 minutes the whole game, man, it's gonna be fun to watch. We don't, it's gonna be that kind of thing,” Carnley said. “District is one of those things that gets you pumped up, gets your blood flowing and gets you ready to go. East Central's first, they're going to be tough, they're going to be a lot like us. It's one of those games that whoever shows up is gonna win it. And it's not going to be one of those, you know, high-scoring matches. It's going to be a grinder all the way to the end and we've just got to fight.”
