Lady Bulldogs’ mission in area: Attack

Published 10:45 pm Thursday, March 31, 2016

NEDERLAND — Keith Barrow and his Nederland Lady Bulldogs know they are in for a dogfight tonight, even if their opponents are of the feline variety.

Nederland faces No. 6 Fort Bend Ridge Point at 6:30 p.m. in the 5A area round at Galena Park ISD Stadium in Houston. How good is Ridge Point?

The Lady Panthers (21-1) have posted 16 shutout victories this season and have 11 wins with six or more goals scored. Ridge Point defeated Lamar Consolidated 8-0 in the first round of the playoffs last week.

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Ridge Point defeated Port Neches-Groves 3-0 on Jan. 9 and also defeated Goose Creek Memorial 4-0 on Jan. 22.

“They (Panthers) have had a very successful season with some good wins,” Barrow said. “They can put a lot of points on the board but I don’t think they are as battle-tested as we are. I think that can help us. We plan to come out hard and jump on them from the beginning.”

Barrow said a quick start from his team could be the difference in the match.

“I think if we are able to score first, we certainly aren’t going to sit back and just try to protect the lead,” Barrow added. “We are going to try to go get another one. A team like Ridge Point is going to keep coming at you. Hopefully we can come out strong and frustrate them for a bit.”

Nederland (17-4-1) advanced to this point with a 4-0 victory over Sheldon C.E. King last week. Madison Ledet powered the Lady Bulldogs attack with two goals and an assist.

Ledet said her team is ready for anything.

“We have worked real hard to get where we are,” Ledet added. “It is going to be challenge Friday. I think if we go out there with our best, I think we can pull out a win. It is nice to have our district that has a lot of competition in it. We know how to play to win our games.”

The Nederland/Ridge Point winner next week faces the winner of the PN-G/George Ranch match.

In boys soccer, the PN-G Indians face the Angleton Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown.

It will be the first game of a doubleheader. The PN-G Lady Indians (15-6-3) face George Ranch (17-3-1) at 7:30 p.m.

The Wildcat boys went 5-5 in District 24-5A and are currently riding a four-match winning streak. Angleton defeated Ridge Point 3-2 in the first round last week and PN-G (17-2-6) knocked out New Caney 3-0 behind two goals from Colton Stone.

Coach Chad Luttrull said after the match he only knew the Wildcats wore purple and white. His knowledge of the team has grown since last Friday.

He knows the Wildcats are a lot better than the team’s 10-9-1 record indicates.

“They are like us in the fact they are 1-0 in the playoffs,” Luttrull said. “I have challenged our kids that we are fighting for our right to keep playing and so are they. Angleton is talented and beat Ridge Point, who was picked to advance in the playoffs. The Wildcats are still playing and Ridge Point had to turn their stuff in.”

The PN-G/Angleton winner next week faces the winner of Texas City and New Caney Porter.

The Lady Indians are coming off a 5-1 victory over Porter in the first round. Five different PN-G players scored in the victory.

George Ranch motored through District 24-5A with a 10-0 record. The Lady Longhorns have not lost since Jan. 29, a 1-0 defeat to College Park.

George Ranch did play to a 2-2 tie in its playoff warm-up game against Class 6A Pearland Dawson. The Lady Longhorns defeated Fort Bend Bush 5-1 last week in the first round.

About Gabriel Pruett

Gabriel Pruett has worked with both the Port Arthur News and Orange Leader since 2000. A majority of the time has been spent covering all aspects of Southeast Texas high school sports. Pruett's claim to fame is...being able to write his own biographical information for this website.

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