Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 8
Cowgirls Win State Soccer Championship • Relative Newcomer Secures Tennis Title • Cemetery’s Policies to be Gravely Revised • More Neighbors Lend Hands Every Year
Cowgirls Win State Soccer Championship
In Lake Travis ISD, “Coppell” is a four-letter word.
The Lake Travis girls soccer team lost only twice this season, and both of those losses were to the Coppell Cowgirls. The first loss happened in the season opener; the second one happened on Saturday in the season finale.
Summer Chen, Neerali Kapadia, and Monica Morales each scored two goals in Coppell’s 6-2 victory in Georgetown on Saturday. The dominant win in the Class 6A Division I title game earned the Coppell girls soccer program its third state championship, following crowns in 2009 and 2015.
Before their string of six postseason victories began last month, the Cowgirls hadn’t won a playoff game since 2019. Coincidentally, that school year was the last time Coppell High won a UIL team title in any sport; the girls cross country squad prevailed in the fall of 2018.
Getting back to the fuel for Lake Travis’ nightmares: The six goals Coppell scored on Saturday equaled the combined number of goals scored by the Cavaliers’ five other playoff opponents. Lake Travis gave up only 22 goals all season, and 10 of those were scored by Coppell.
(You can watch videos of the Cowgirls’ goals in the championship game via the Notes tab on the Chronicle’s website.)
Chen, a midfielder who assisted on one of Morales’ goals on Saturday, was named the MVP of the championship game; she will play for Gonzaga University next year. Morales, a defender, is bound for Washington University in St. Louis. Other senior Cowgirls who plan to play collegiate soccer include defender Jordan Clig (Emporia State University), midfielder Tatum Montgomery (McMurry University), goalkeeper Veronika Orzolek (Northumbria University), forward Reagan Roberson (Dallas Baptist University), and forward Paige Slater (St. Mary's University).
Despite all that college-bound talent, the cupboard isn’t bare for Craig Able, who just completed his third season as the Cowgirls’ head coach. Kapadia, who scored seven goals in Coppell’s six playoff games, is a junior. So is Rachel Mathew, who scored a playoff goal against Lake Highlands in the second round. And Emeline Holder, who scored goals in the regional championship and the state semifinals, is only a sophomore.
Next year’s district matches against Flower Mound Marcus ought to be something to see. Earlier on Saturday, the Marauders won the Class 6A Division II championship with a 1-0 victory over Houston Stratford. Like Coppell, Marcus now has three UIL titles in girls soccer. Only six other schools in Texas have won that many.
Relative Newcomer Secures Tennis Title
The Cowgirls weren’t the only female athletes from Coppell to earn a championship trophy last week. Kaley Medina won a national U.S. Tennis Association tournament on Sunday, just a few years after taking up the sport.
Medina, 40, is among a group of Coppell women who started taking tennis lessons after COVID restrictions loosened up. Eventually, several of them started playing in USTA league matches as a team called Causing a Racquet.