Posted 11:20 pm Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Eagles Cruise On Senior Night
By CHRIS PARRY
Staff Writer
LINDALE -- With 10 minutes left to play in Tuesday's match between Lindale and Mabank, all the noise was coming from the Eagles bench.
Staff Writer
LINDALE -- With 10 minutes left to play in Tuesday's match between Lindale and Mabank, all the noise was coming from the Eagles bench.
The Eagles' starters were doing all of the shouting and encouraging because most of them were pulled midway through the second half in a 7-0 win. Lindale clinched its third consecutive District 31-4A championship on "Senior Night" at Eagle Stadium.
Lindale (21-0-2, 9-0 in 31-4A) treated the Panthers (4-5 in 31-4A) the same way it has done with every district opponent - menacingly. After scoring twice in six minutes late in the first half, Lindale erupted for three goals in 15 minutes early in the second half.
Counting Tuesday's win, Lindale has outscored its district opponents, 56-1.
"I never would've thought when I got here that we'd be district champs three years in a row," said Lindale head coach Jason Lawless. "We were a pretty young program that had never made the playoffs. Now we are going to try and take it all the way."
The team's six seniors were honored prior to kickoff and one in particular, Elijah Shipman, led the way with two goals and two assists. Twin brother and fellow senior Enoch Shipman finished with a goal and an assist. Other goals were scored by juniors Sam Wright, Todd Spires and James Crews; and sophomore Joel Ramirez.
Lindale's attack was held in check until the ninth minute of the first half. A long pass into the box from senior Alan Arroyo fell to Elijah Shipman. The forward settled a bouncing ball and hammered the volley past the keeper. Six minutes later, Lindale was ahead by two goals, with Elijah playing a perfect pass behind the defense to Wright, who did the rest.
The floodgates opened in the second half as Lindale scored five more goals.
"A lot of teams try and pack it in to see how long they can last, but eventually we get to them," Lawless said about Mabank's defensive formation. "Then they start trying to attack us and that's when we really get going.
"We wore them down in the second half."
Lindale closes out district play Friday on the road at Whitehouse. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.
Lindale closes out district play Friday on the road at Whitehouse. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.
The seniors honored Tuesday were the Shipman brothers, Paul Rodgers, Ben Coughlin, Jesse Horton and Arroyo.
Mabank Too Much For Lady Eagles, 5-1
Lindale hoped to give its fans an upset on "Senior Night," but the Lady Eagles trailed 2-0 to Mabank at halftime. Lady Eagles senior Jenna Terry gave the home fans reason to be optimistic when she cut the deficit in half with a goal early in the second half.
Lindale hoped to give its fans an upset on "Senior Night," but the Lady Eagles trailed 2-0 to Mabank at halftime. Lady Eagles senior Jenna Terry gave the home fans reason to be optimistic when she cut the deficit in half with a goal early in the second half.
It was all Mabank scoring three goals after that to coast to a comfortable victory.
Lindale seniors honored were Jenna Terry, Selena Hutchinson, Alicia Sanders and Shelby Dunaway.
Lindale will close out the season at 7 p.m. Friday at Whitehouse.
