MINERAL WELLS – Down by a pair of goals at the midway point of their Class 4A Division II Region I girls soccer bi-district championship match, the District 5-4A co-champion Brownwood Lady Lions caught fire after halftime and rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Venus Lady Bulldogs – the first postseason win for the program since 2023.
“At halftime I told them you have to figure out if you want it or not, and they did that, they were able to come back from adversity just like they’ve done several times this year,” said Lady Lions head coach Alexis Walker. “They never stop fighting and that’s what I love about these girls. They’re never going to give up, and we have earned another week of soccer and we’re grateful for that. I couldn’t be more proud of these girls.”
With 6:14 left in regulation, freshman Ailean Palacios broke the 2-all tie, scoring the game-winning goal in the right corner of the net from the left side 15 yards out with an assist from Nylah Hall – who tallied the first two Brownwood (17-3-1) goals of the second half against Venus (13-10-1).
“Ailean is the only girl I’ve ever coached in six years that’s left-footed, and to have her on the outside, it’s absolutely insane to me what she can do with the ball only as a freshman,” Walker said. “I’m thankful she was able to capitalize, and once Nylah played her that beautiful through ball there was no doubt in my mind about her putting it in the back of the net.”
Just over a minute later, with 5:09 to go Hannah Deen – who entered the game at goal keeper for the second half – was able to corral a Venus free kick that deflected off the cross bar and frantically shuffle the ball away from the goal to the Lady Lion defense, who cleared the ball to escape the tying threat and were able to run out the final five minutes.
“Hannah and company had a really good save with a few minutes left, Walker said. “I talk about the defense all the time and how well they work together. The whole time they were communicating about who had the ball and Hannah saved it and all of them cleared it out. Congratulations to our defense for an outstanding job in the second half.”
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Lady Lions finally lit up the scoreboard 3:46 in the second half when Nylah Hall scored off an assist from Icess Hall. Then, with 30:38 remaining, Nylah Hall tied the score at 2 as she maneuvered through the Venus defense after receiving a pass from Khloe Galvan.
“Nylah, we love her to death because she’s going to give you all she has, whatever that is,” Walker said. “She had so many nerves going into this game, and she hit the goalie’s hands several times and a pole once, everywhere but the net, but in the second half she was able to capitalize twice.”
Though the Lady Lions dominated possession in the first half, they were unable to find the back of the net. Venus, however, was able to piece together a pair of goals in a 1:51 span to grab a 2-0 advantage with 3:01 left before intermission.
“Venus had one fast girl and our goal was not let her to get past us,” Walker said. “The first goal was a free kick just out of the box, and we didn’t leave her unmarked, but when our defender stepped to the ball she became unmarked just then and she hit a beautiful ball. The second goal, again we had a foul outside of the box and they just struck it so well, it went in the top corner and there’s just not much you can do.”
Regarding what she told the Lady Lions at halftime, facing the potential end of their season, Walker said, “You come into a playoff game with a lot of nerves, and although we had multiple opportunities in the first half we weren’t able to capitalize on them. It just took a little bit of a reset and talking at halftime. Playoffs are do or die and when you put that into perspective we had 40 minutes to figure out how to make two goals to get back even, and then try and figure out a way to get another goal after that so we don’t have to go into overtime or a PK shootout. Everything I asked them to do at halftime, they were able to do and executed in the second half.”
Brownwood will compete in the Class 4A Division II Region I area round of the playoffs next week against either Benbrook (20-3-1) or Saginaw Eagle Mountain (7-10-2), who square off at 4 p.m. Friday in Aledo.
“For the area playoff game, I hope this lesson they got in the first half will resonate with them more,” Walker said. “You have to start fast no matter what.”