After a team effort in the second half, the Falcons defeated the Parkway West Longhorns 14-7 on May 11.

The Longhorns got on the board first, while the Falcons responded shortly after. The pace went back and forth, with a 4-4 tie at half. Junior Natalie Ruffus said the team had to readjust during halftime because the first half did not go as they expected, but once they got back into the game, they were able to control the pace of the game moving forward.

“Being [tied] after the first half was definitely a bit of a shock. We went into the game being confident in our ranking and talent, but as a team and as an attack, we didn’t stress the significance and skill their goalie

played in their game. The heat and the drop in confidence and energy definitely changed the mood and slowed the pace of our game a bit,” Ruffus said. “But we turned it around and cooled off our emotions and bodies as a team and came back stronger, picked up the tempo, and played the game [at our] pace.”

After half, the Falcons scored four unanswered goals to put them above the Longhorns with an 8-4 score. Senior Devon Crews said the team was able to pick up their pace after halftime because they started implementing what they practiced and began to beat the other team’s goalie.

“The second half was so much better because we ran our offense and figured out how to beat their goalie which was key. We were able to actually make the adjustments we talked about,” Crews said.