The HP Lady Scots soccer team opened up the 5A Texas playoffs this past week.  In the first round, the Lady Scots faced off against a very tough Red Oak squad.  The game was  very lopsided on the field but not on the scoreboard.  HP dominated possession and shots but had a difficult time finding the net with Red Oak’s physical style of play.  The game was halted just before halftime for 30 minutes as medical personnel attended to Hattie Patterson who took a tough shot right in the face.  The Lady Scots came out of the delay a bit cautious and ended the first half tied 0-0.  The 2nd half started off with more of the same - constant possession and attacking by the Lady Scots but still unable to come away with a goal.  Regulation ended with the score still 0-0.  In the 2nd overtime period, Quinn Cornog came away with a goal after a nifty pass from Kylie Bell to put the Scots in the lead 1-0.  The defense continued to hold steady and the Lady Scots came away with the victory to move on to Area Finals against Mt. Pleasant.  Most importantly, Hattie Patterson is recovering well and will be back on the field soon!
The 2nd round of the playoffs against Mt. Pleasant started off similarly to round 1 with our opponent doing everything they could to prevent the Lady Scots from scoring.  The Mt. Pleasant Tigers loaded up the defense and hoped to hold HP scoreless.  However, with 15 minutes to go in the first half after an excellent pass from Amelia Stevens and some very skillful footwork of her own, Maja Davison Lardner put HP in front with a great goal.  The Lady Scots continued to attack with no avail and the first half ended with us in front 1-0.  The 2nd half started with Mt. Pleasant moving girls into attack hoping to equalize.  Unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn’t hold the Lady Scots in check as we scored 4 goals in about 20 minutes to put the game completely out of reach.  Maja had another wonderful play after dribbling around 3 defenders and firing the ball into the corner of the net to put the Scots up 2-0. Soon thereafter, Quinn Cornog caught the defense off-guard with a slick pass to Parker Hart who calmly slid the ball past the goalie for the 3-0 lead.  Not to be outdone, Quinn got a goal of her own after a cross from EmJ Cox.  Finally, a Mt. Pleasant defender directed a ball into her own net after great work from Hattie Speicher to win the ball, beat her defender and fire an excellent cross into the front of the net.  As always, our defense led by seniors Keller Matise, Maddy McNeely and Olivia Walker held firm and registered their 15th shutout of the season.  Come out and cheer the undefeated Lady Scots on as they push for their record 8th state championship.