San Marcos (6-6-4, 1-4 district) couldn’t overcome three goals from New Braunfels (9-3-1, 4-0-1) in Friday night’s match inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium, getting shut out 3-0.
The Lady Rattlers were solid in keeping possession of the ball, using quick, short passes to weave through the Lady Unicorns defense. But the team was never able to take advantage of any looks at goal.
Still, head coach Jason Carnley mostly liked what he saw.
“Our energy was fantastic, our passing was better, we moved the ball real well,” Carnley said. “We just fought, I thought we played really good. It's probably one of the best team-put-together games we've had, regardless of the score. I mean, we made tiny errors and (New Braunfels) capitalized. But we fought, we played great and I'm happy.”
The San Marcos defense held strong until just before the end of the first half. With two minutes left on the clock, New Braunfels snuck a shot past senior goalkeeper Aubrey Reina — who had multiple saves on the night — for the first score of the game.
The visitors kept pushing in the second half, earning another two goals.
“New Braunfels is always fantastic, whether they're first or they're last,” Carnley said. “It's just one of those games that we have to come just get ready to go. Yes, if we play like that every time, every game, all season long, we're gonna be fine. But you can't let up against a team like this because then they get you every time. But that was definitely a good test for us.”
San Marcos will remain on Tuesday when the team takes on Schertz Clemens (5-7-0, 1-3-0). Carnely hopes his team brings the same energy from Friday’s match.
“It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be very much like that,” Carnley said. “You gotta and be physical, you gotta be aggressive, you gotta move the ball around and just have a little fun.”
