Courtesy photo The MHS boys soccer team secured their spot in the Class 4A playoffs.
It was a tough final week finish for the Madill girls while the boys squad notched a pivotal 2-1 win over Community Christian to secure a Class 4A playoff spot.
The Lady Wildcats had a rugged offensive run, facing a brutal schedule with losses to Community Christian (5-0), Bethany (10-0) and Chickasha (0-5) to wrap up the campaign.
Coach Jose Cortes’ boys unit opened the week with the vital Community Christian victory ahead of losses to Bethany (6-0) and Chickasha (3-1) in closing the regular season.
The Wildcats await either Harding Prep or Newcastle in the postseason opening round next week on the road.
Girls
A rough 10-minute stretch to begin the contest against Community Christian put Madill in a 3-0 hole which they could never recover.
Defending state champ Bethany was too much to handle in the dominant decision as they capitalized on every Lady Wildcat miscue.
Madill answered with a solid showing facing Chickasha but struggled to get anything into the net.
The Lady Chicks snagged a 1-0 lead and that’s how it remained through a lengthy weather delay before Chickasha scored twice to close the half. The visitors added a pair of goals after intermission despite a solid outing from goalkeeper McKinzy Nance, who had several strong saves to keep the Lady Wildcats within striking distance.
Coach Nathan Fitch also credited the play of Rita Camacho with a standout performance and great work ethic.
“All in all, it was a tough season for us, but we have been very competitive against the teams on our level,” Fitch said. “The teams in our district were a whole lot better than they were last year and although we finished with just one win, looking back it could have easily been four or five with a little more experience in big moments.
“We’ve done a lot of learning and a lot of growing and learning as a program. We’re only losing one starting senior and I’m very confident this group has what it takes to win these games next year with that additional experience.”
Boys
Keeping the pressure on from the start, Madill came up with just enough scoring in the all-important Community Christian decision.
Christopher Narvaez was in control in goal most of the outing, notching three saves, while the Wildcats peppered the Community net for 10 shots on goal in addition to three corner kicks and 11 free kicks.
Adrian Gomez put Madill in front with a blast into the back of the net in the 16th minute of the first half. Community knotted the score in the 50th minute of the second half and 12 minutes later the Wildcats garnered the game winner on a scoring boot from Yael Corona.
Madillhungtoughagainst
powerful Bethany, trailing just 1-0 at halftime before the Bronchos opened things up with a second half barrage. TheWildcatsendedwithonly three shots on goal.
Despite controlling the ball possession for more than 60 percent of the contest, miscues and inability to find the back of the net consistently hurt the Wildcats against Chickasha.
A free kick shot by Adrian GomezputMadillaheadwith only10minutesgonebutthat was the only Wildcat goal on 13 shot attempts. The Fighting Chicks responded with three goals after halftime, including two on unforced errors.