Lady Rattlers prepare for tough district with annual tournament

Jason Carnley knows District 26-6A competition will be no joke. 

So to prepare the Lady Rattlers for the upcoming challenge, San Marcos faced a tough group of the teams at its annual tournament. 

The Lady Rattlers ended their run in the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Abilene on Saturday morning inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium. 

“(Abilene was) a possession team and they moved the ball really well,” Carnley said. “But I know we were more physical. That kind of works in your favor sometimes but sometimes you give away those ridiculous fouls, I guess, not knowing that you’re meaning too. That kind of played out on one of the goals. And the other ones, we’ve got to learn to grow in defense of corner kicks that’s what’s hurting us right now.” 

San Marcos went 1-3 during tournament play. Despite the losing record, Carnley believes his team played well in its four matches. 

“We lost three. We won one. But I think overall we growed,” Carnley said. “We had some people that kind of came in and filled in for injuries or whatnot or just because (other players were) banged up. Overall, I’m pretty pleased. I mean, everybody wants to win but sometimes you got to lose to understand how to win.” 

The Lady Rattlers played good defense throughout the tournament but they had trouble finding the back of the net. Although San Marcos only scored three times in four matches, Carnley said his team is much better than its offensive performance over the weekend. 

“Right now, we’re looking for the long ball. We’re trying to make it a race,” Carnley said. “We’re a much better team than that. (Abilene) just controlled the middle on us. We changed our formation up so we’re trying something different because it’s a tournament, why not? Hopefully, we can figure out this formation and get our offense more involved and find some more goals.” 

San Marcos has two more matches before district play begins, starting with Monday night’s game against Bastrop, which ended after press time. 

“District is going to be tough,” Carnley said. “It’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be like these games plus some. So, hopefully as a squad, we’ll be able to battle in there because it’s going to be top notch.”