But other than that, not much was decided between the two rivals. As evidenced by the 1-1 scoreline.
“I don’t know that anybody will leave here saying anything other than we were the best team in the first half and they were the best team in the second half,” said Dragons coach Gareth Munro. “If you look at the grand scheme of things, 1-1 was probably fair. Although we both wanted to win.”
His counterpart, David Wolff, concurred.
“It was a tale of two halves. They dominated the first half and I felt like we dominated the second half. ... If we played the whole game the way we played (in the second half) we would have been fine.”
Instead, both teams can take some positives into the postseason.
Collierville (11-2-1) relied on the speed of its attacking players to create chances in the opening 40 minutes and were finally rewarded just before halftime as Kaitlyn Lewis crossed to Hilary Shikuku who teed one up that Presley Williams buried.
The defensive play of the half came earlier when Collierville’s Lena Woodcock headed one off her line to deny Allie Ross.
After a fiery halftime team talk from Wolff, however, Houston looked like a different team in the second half. The sister act of Lucy and Ellett Smith created most of the mayhem for the Dragons, with Lucy getting the equalizing goal with about 15 minutes left in the match.
Other chances followed, but Collierville goalkeeper Lily Reafsnyder was up to the task. Her opposite number, Laila McNamee, also had a strong game, as the match wound down to its conclusion.
“The thing is, we're going to get the best (effort) teams have,” said Wolff, after watching his team improve to 12-0-2. “Whether it’s a rival, or because it’s a game that could end your season ... you’re playing Houston and we’re going to get their best. And if you walk in here and you’re not ready to go ...
“They came out and pressed and pressed and did everything right. I think in the second half, we just wore them down.”
Munro referenced his team’s only loss this year, a heavy 7-1 defeat to two-time defending state champ Knoxville Bearden at the end of August when assessing what he saw from his team in that second half.
“We played Bearden’s game and got absolutely punished for it,” he said. “We played our game in the first half and I think in the second half, we played their game. We started to do things that suit their players and because of that, we got more and more tired.
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