The Lady Bears Varsity Soccer team concluded their pre-region schedule last week, a pre-regional schedule that featured contests against five consecutive 6A programs to get them ready for their region schedule. They concluded their pre-region schedule with matches against the Lambert Longhorns (perennial 6A powerhouse and 2015 6A state runner up) on Friday, Feb. 19th, and cross-town rivals from Milton High School on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd. 

The match against Lambert was played in front of a very robust crowd at Cambridge High School on "Youth Night" for both the girls' and boys' programs, Friday, Feb. 19th.

The Lady Bears began the game very tentatively and, while they fought hard, were under heavy pressure from a very disciplined and skilled Lambert side.  The first goal of the match was conceded approximately 15 minutes into the first half when Lambert attached from the left corner, were able to penetrate the Lady Bears' defensive line and slot a pass in that was easily finished by the Longhorns from approximately eight to 10 yards in front of goal.  The Lady Bears held on to go to half time down by a score of 1-0. 

The Lady Bears made adjustments at halftime and came out with quite a bit more energy for the second half – a half in which they disrupted much of Lambert's rhythm, were evenly matched and nearly notched an equalizer late in the game when Julia Schukle nearly squeezed through the Longhorns defense to get a look at goal. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and the match ended with the score 1-0, a solid outcome against a team with the talent of Lambert.

After a weekend break, the Lady Bears traveled to Milton High School, Tuesday, Feb. 23rd, to face their cross-town rivals looking for their first victory over Milton since the Cambridge program was started. 

With the threat of nasty weather looming, the Lady Bears started very strong, dominated possession and looked the all-around better team. As soccer frequently reminds us, it can be a very cruel game and, despite dominating play, the Lady Bears conceded the first goal of the game to go down 1-0 (after an outstanding save made by Reagan Dunwoodie to keep the initial Milton attempt on goal from hitting the nets).  The Lady Bears continued to dominate and got their equalizer when Charlotte Teeter found the lower left hand corner of the net on a beautiful shot from long-range.  The game went to half time with the score tied 1-1. 

As cold, rainy, windy conditions set in at the start of the second half, the usual style and strategy of the Lady Bears to move the ball and control possession was more difficult to execute on a wet, sloppy field and those challenges combined with the physicality of the Milton team resulted in a more evenly matched second half.  It has to be said that the Lady Bears had the better chances in the second half as well and really looked the better team from start to finish.  Unfortunately, the go ahead goal never came and the game finished tied 1-1.

The Lady Bears concluded a very promising pre-region run with the game against Milton and look well-prepared to tackle regional competition starting this week, when they have a Tuesday night, March 1st match at home against Sprayberry (kickoff TBD) and a Friday night (March 4th) match at North Springs (kickoff at 5.55pm).

Go Bears!