Soccer Lady Lions tune up for season
January 3, 2010

By DAVID CLAYBOURN
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE -- The Greenville Lady Lions tuned up for the upcoming soccer season by outscoring Mabank 11-0 and Paris 4-0 in a pair of scrimmages on Saturday at T.A. “Cotton” Ford Stadium.

Greenville, which returns many of its starters off last year’s 10-6-4 playoff team, caught Mabank shorthanded in the first scrimmage. The Lady Panthers brought only nine players.

Katelynn Twilley, who last year was voted midfielder of the year in District 20-4A, led the Lady Lions against Mabank with four goals.

Julie Hernandez, who was a first-team all-district selection last season, scored a hat trick for the Lady Lions as did Bailey Phillips, who was a second-team all-district selection in 2009.

Priszilla Carrillo also scored for the Lady Lions in that 45-minute scrimmage.

Twilley and Julie Hernandez both scored twice against Paris, which did bring a full team to Greenville.

Twilley scored the scrimmage’s first goal on a penalty kick, after Lindsey Carter was taken down in the goalkeeper’s box by a Paris defender. Twilley buried the shot in the lower right corner of the net.

Hernandez scored the second goal off an assist from Carter and the third one with an assist from Phillips.

Twilley capped scoring when she booted in a corner kick.

Greenville coach Ron Beck said he was “very happy” with the Lady Lions’ performance.

“I would have thought Paris would have been stronger,” he said. “We improved from the Mabank game. I saw some great individual efforts.”

Beck said some of the Lady Lions secured starting spots with their performances in the two scrimmages.

Greenville’s junior varsity outscored the Paris JV 2-0 in one scrimmage and battled the Wildcat JV to a scoreless standoff in the second scrimmage. Mabank did not bring a JV team to the scrimmage.

The Lady Lions will scrimmage at home again on Tuesday against Mesquite, starting at 5:30 p.m. with the junior varsity contest, followed by the varsity match.