Left: Lampasas senior River Hooks, right, gets entangled with a Lady Kangaroo player while battling for the ball. The location was different, but the result was the same.

After heavy rains produced poor pitch conditions in Lampasas, the Lady Badgers were forced to relocate their first district match against Killeen to Leo Buckley Stadium.

Despite the sudden change in venue, Lampasas picked up a 2-0 victory.

On Wednesday evening, a day after snow storms delayed the teams’ second contest, the Lady Roos returned the favor by traveling to Lampasas.

The Lady Badgers, however, were not as hospitable.

Lampasas scored the match’s lone goal off a wild sequence early in the second half. The team improves to 3-6 in District 49-4A play after sweeping the season series from Killeen.

With the junior varsity games canceled due to the weather, Killeen won the numbers game as it sported a bench full of players.

Above: Badger midfielder Brock English is kept away from the ball by by Killeen’s Patrick Agins. PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE “[They] had 19 players, and they were playing them all and trying to wear us down,” Lady Badgers head coach Mark Guszak said. “We had 12 players and one sub. Conditioning paid off for us.”

The Lady Badgers missed several scoring opportunities early in the match and produced just two firsthalf shots on goal. But after taking a 0-0 tie into halftime, Lampasas needed less than 10 minutes to get on the scoreboard.

Sophomore Megan Mason delivered a corner kick that ricocheted around by the Killeen goal until River Hooks tapped the ball to Erika Reyna, who squeezed it past the opposing goalkeeper.

While the win was welcomed by Guszak, the Lady Badgers’ involvement in one-score matches is becoming tiresome to the coach.

Chris Sanders, a junior, elevates high for a header during the first half of Lampasas’ home loss to Killeen. “All wins are good wins, but the 1-0 games have just become ridiculous,” Guszak said. “Six of our nine district games have had 1- 0 scores.”

Unfortunately, only one of the matches has worked out in Lampasas’ favor.

Luckily, the Lady Badgers will have plenty of opportunities to create more victories at home.

The rescheduling of the matches between the two teams gave Lampasas four consecutive home matches. The final of the four occurs tonight when the Lady Badgers host Leander Vandergrift.

But after traveling to Lake Travis Tuesday, Lampasas wraps up its schedule with two of its final three matches at home.

Guszak, however, is taking the season one match at time.

“We need to follow up on this with a home win on Friday,” the coach said.

The Badgers, who were scheduled to host Killeen Tuesday, took to the pitch immediately following the Lady Badgers’ victory.

The home venue did not produce the same results for the boys, who gave up four first-half goals before falling 5-1.

“We have played good for one half in several games,” Badgers head coach Greg Porter said. “We were sloppy in the first half because the midfield did not drop enough into the defensive responsibilities. That put unnecessary pressure on the back four which was very frustrating.”

Despite the rough first half, the Badgers bounced back after the break and significantly reduced Killeen’s shots on goal and, more importantly, scores.

The Kangaroos went up 5-0 with a little over 31 minutes left in the match.

Almost 20 minutes later, Badger sophomore midfielder Hunter Stephens scored off Ethan Moses’ assist to end the shutout.

“In the second half, the players fulfilled their responsibilities and matched Killeen goal for goal,” Porter said.

The coach also complimented his freshman goalkeeper Josh Barbero, who made a handful of saves after being inserted for Josh Rinninger during halftime.

“Josh played well,” Porter said.

Barbero finished with five saves.

The Badgers (1-8 District 49-4A) take an eight-match losing streak to Leander Vandergrift tonight. The start is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.