Michael Pineda
Wins have been few and far between in the history of Duncan Lady Demon soccer. And although Duncan came up short of a victory in its season opener against Lawton, it was a step in the right direction.
Kayla Bowles stood tall in the goal and got enough support from her defense to notch a 0-0 tie against Lawton High Friday night. Bowles was far busier than her counterpart from Lawton and stood tall turning away every scoring chance that the Lady Wolverines put together as Duncan walked off the field with an immeasurable amount of confidence in its debut under coach Delydia Gay.
“Kayla did really good in the preseason scrimmages as a midfielder but she hurt her knee and we put her in goal where she played last year,” Gay said. “I was really pleased with how she played.
“I will take the tie. We had the option of going into sudden death but I chose not to. We were low on numbers and were tired. I will kiss my sister and like it.”
Duncan started the game off going against the wind and spent the majority of time defending its goal. Despite the pressure, the defense, led by Bowles and Madisson Williams, turned away each threat.
Counterattacks were few and far between as Duncan struggled to maintain possession past midfield and did not get a shot off on goal in the first 40 minutes.
“When they had the wind, I told them that they would have to step up and play hard,” Gay said. “They held their own.”
Despite getting the wind in the second half, the Lady Demons were unable to generate much more action on their end of the field. Courtney Moore had the best opportunity late in the half but her shot was swallowed up in goal as each goaltender turned in a clean sheet.
“Our whole halftime talk was about shooting in the second half,” Gay said. “One thing that hurt us was the wind was blowing so hard, we couldn’t get any touches. I thought we played better in the first half because we had more ball control.”
The Lady Demons will have spring break off and will jump back into action Mar. 23 when they travel to Lawton Eisenhower. The key for Duncan will be to maintain momentum during the break.
“It was a confidence booster,” Gay said. “We have always lost to Lawton High. We needed to come out strong and we did.
“We are having practice next week and this is the way you want to start your spring break.”
— Michael Pineda is the sports editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 143, or via e-mail at m.pineda@duncanbanner.com.
