Head coach Lisa Mazur thought that her team just needed to pick up the intensity coming out of halftime. Although, the Rattlers were unable to hang on and didn’t gain the momentum they needed in the final half.
San Marcos faced the Del Valle Cardinals on Friday night at San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium, where they were defeated, 3-0. This comes after the Rattlers had taken down the Austin Maroons, 4-3, on Tuesday.
Mazur said that their energy was struggling, as well as their offensive production.
“The effort and the hustle was what it really came down to,” Mazur said. “We couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We had some opportunities to do it. We’re a team that, when we get goals, we get a little bit of momentum. We just played flat tonight.”
The pace of the game started out quick, as the Cardinals (10-4-3, 6-4-1 district) scored their first goal within the opening six minutes of the game. They had made many more shot attempts throughout the first half, but sophomore goalkeeper Chris Guerra was able to come up with multiple saves.
The Rattlers (4-10, 1-9 district) tried firing back five minutes after the Cardinals’ first goal with a shot attempt from senior Melvin Molina, but it didn’t make it to the back of the net. San Marcos had a few more looks at the goal before the half ended with attempts from Molina and senior Jaime Ramirez, but the Rattlers were down, 1-0, going into halftime.
Mazur had high hopes for the final half, considering they were only down by one score compared to the last time they played Del Valle.
“Well they had beat us last time, 9-1,” Mazur said. “I knew after the first half we were hanging in there and I said, ‘We’ve got them at 1-0, if we can just pick it up, the momentum in the second half,’ but we just didn’t seem to do that.”
The Rattlers put on the pressure to begin the second half, but they didn’t stay consistent. Molina had another shot attempt during the first five minutes of the final half, but the Cardinal goalkeeper saved it.
Del Valle had responded to Molina’s shot attempt with one of their own, but it was unsuccessful. However, they quickly made up for their missed goal and they were able to score. The Cardinals were attacking the Rattlers, and less than a minute later, they scored their third and final goal of the game with 27 minutes remaining.
Mazur said that her biggest motivation for her team to continue pushing through the season is to play with intensity.
“Just finish strong,” Mazur said. “You know, get a couple more wins under our belt, I think it’s four (matches) we have left, and keep playing hard.”
The Rattlers will continue their season against the Austin Bowie Bulldogs on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. at The Annex. Mazur said that her team can keep up with any team if they put in the effort.
“I think we can play with anybody, we just gotta stop being moody and know that we can’t pick and choose when we play, because it’s not gonna work.”
