Lady Dogs capture early soccer tourney
By GEORGIA PURDY

Jasper varsity girls' soccer is off to a great start taking first place in the Beaumont-Central tournament this past weekend and a second place finish at the East Texas Shoot-Out in Palestine Jan. 12-13.

At the Beaumont-Central tournament, the Lady Bulldogs fought Vidor to a 1-1 tie at the half on an early goal by Valerie Dufner. In the second half, coach Ron Vickers said they "exploded" with three quick points by Caroline Kipp, Valerie and Natalie Dufner.

Jasper put away Beaumont Ozen 9-0 in game two. They scored early and often, for a 5-0 lead at the half. Rachel Vickers led the first half scoring with two goals; Natalie Dufner had two goals in the second half.

In the third game, Jasper faced the tournament host, the Central Jaguars.

"The girls played inspired defense so that the goalies never had to touch the ball," Vickers said.

The Lady Bulldogs led 4- 0 at halftime and finished with a 6-0 shutout.

Jasper faced Class 5A Port Author Memorial in the championship game. Both teams came into the final without any losses. Both teams were scoreless at the half. With 12 minutes left in the second half, Jessica Alvis drove on the goalie from the left side and shot into the right corner of the goal. The Lady Bulldogs won 1-0.

"In all, the Lady Bulldogs scored 20 goals for the weekend tournament with only one score against the combined goalies Marcie Ratcliff and Jacy Manning," Vickers said. "This was our first tournament win in several years and leaves us 6-1 in pre-district games.

At the East Texas Shoot-out, a Class 3A-only event, the Lady Bulldogs first put away Athens 1-0.

Vickers said that the game was dominated by good defense by both teams.

"Each team took close to 20 shots on the opposing goal, but because of good defensive play outstanding goalie work, neither team scored until midway through the second half," Vickers said.

After penetrating the 18-yard box in the second half, mid-fielder Rachel Vickers took the pass and scored on a lofting shot from about 25 yards out.

The victory put them in the winners' bracket where they faced Waco-Robinson in the semi-finals. Waco-Robinson, a team who made it through several playoff rounds last year, had scored eight points against their first round opponent, Vickers said.

Jasper took charge in the first half. Freshman Natalie Dufner scored the first goal and was followed by Caroline Kipp before the half.

"Our defense seldom allowed shots and those that were taken were highly contested or easily caught by first-year goalie Marcie Ratcliff," he said.

In the second half, Robinson had the kickoff but Natalie Dufner intercepted the first pass, dribbled through several defenders and scored from well into the 18-yard box.

"Within 15 seconds of the kickoff, Jasper had increased its lead to 3-0," Vickers said. "That seemed to be the breaking point and within minutes, the score was 5-0 with scores from Valerie Dufner, Kipp and then before the end of the game, Natalie Dufner scored a third time to bring the final score to 6-0."

Saturday brought worsening weather and the final against host Palestine, who had victories over Chapel Hill and Mabank, was cut to two 30-minute halves.

The field was slick with rain and both teams played good defense. With no score by either team, it looked like the outcome would be decided with a kick-off; but with 18 seconds left, Palestine made a kick that was tipped into the left corner of the net Jasper's loss put them in second place.

"This is our best showing in a tournament in the three years that I have been coaching," Vickers said. "It was especially satisfying since it was against schools of a similar size."

Jasper plays in a predominantly Class 4A district since not all Class 3A schools have soccer teams.

Both junior varsity and varsity tested their skills in a two-part scrimmage with Little Cypress- Mauriceville Jan. 9. JV won their part 4-1 with two goals from Dufner, and one each from Kipp and Morgan Marx. LC-M won the varsity part 4-0 but was held scoreless in the last 20 minutes of the game.

District play begins Jan. 30 when Jasper will host Henderson. Game time is 6 p.m.