GOUDARZI & YOUNG / ETBLITZ TEAM OF THE WEEK: KHS Lady Bulldogs soccer!
When Kilgore’s soccer Lady Bulldogs had a coaching change after last school year, there was uncertainty.
There always is when a new coach comes in to a program, whether the program has been very good, like both Kilgore soccer teams, or not.
First-year coach Daniel Garcia has not only eased the uncertainty – he has squashed it, and then some, along with the way the Lady ‘Dogs have played.
And it’s because of that fact that Kilgore, not only unbeaten in District 15-4A, but dominant, is the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week for the week of Feb. 24-March 1.
They could’ve easily won it the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before that – you get the idea. Competition is stiff for the G&Y / ETB Team of the Week Award.
But Kilgore cemented it last week with wins over fellow District 15-4A contenders Henderson and Pine Tree.
Last Tuesday, Feb. 25, Lexi Lara and Phenix Rivers each scored a goal in a 2-0 win at home over Henderson’s Lady Lions, the defending district champions, and then Kilgore journeyed to Pine Tree’s Pirate Stadium in Longview on Friday – and left with a 4-0 win.
That victory over Pine Tree, even with a pair of regular season games remaining, allowed the Lady Bulldogs to clinch the District 15-4A girls championship (Our story here: LADY ‘DOGS CLINCH TITLE! | Kilgore shuts out PT, captures district championship with playoffs on horizon).
Against the Lady Pirates, Esperanza Garcia scored twice, and Rivers and Angelica Canchola each scored once.
For Garcia, it was affirmation, something he wasn’t necessarily looking for, but has found. Garcia took an already very-good Kilgore girls team and has elevated it to a district title, and into one of the favorites to reach the UIL Class 4A state championship.
In the process, Kilgore has outscored the opposition by a ridiculous amount. The Lady ‘Dogs have 73 goals, and have only allowed district foes two goals.
Two.
As in one, two.
Even though this doesn’t count as a part of last week’s team of the week award, Kilgore added an 8-0 win over Tatum this week, and with that, Rivers scored seven (7!) goals, soaring past the 100-goal mark with 105 goals this season. That’s 14 away from the school’s all-time girls soccer scoring record.
Here’s what Kilgore has left: one game, a trip to Center on Friday night for the regular season finale.
After that, the UIL 4A playoffs begin.
And when they announce the starting lineup for the 4A Division I state title game at Birkelbach Stadium on April 10, the Kilgore girls would love to hear their own names.
And our team award has another quality winner.
Winning is something they do well at Goudarzi & Young, a law firm founded by Brent Goudarzi in 1997 that has done little else EXCEPT win.
Goudarzi & Young is the premier firm not only in East Texas, where they have offices in both Longview and Gilmer, but maybe in the nation. They have the three largest settlements involving 18-wheeler accidents in the history of the United States, and have no peer in the field of personal, property, and oilfield injuries, 18-wheeler and car accidents, burn injuries, wrongful death or insurance claims.
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And congratulations to coach Daniel Garcia and the Kilgore High School Lady Bulldogs, the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz Team of the Week!