KFDM COOP Posted March 21, 2007 Report Posted March 21, 2007 Austin, Bombek pace Lady Dogs to 1-0 triumphBy Tom Halliburton The Port Arthur News NEDERLAND -- Before this 2007 soccer season, Evan Austin had been an offensive weapon for Nederland's Lady Bulldogs. By the end of this regular season, the Port Neches-Groves girls soccer team wished that she had remained in that role. When the blonde senior sweeper finished her defensive excellence in Bulldog Stadium, PN-G's girls hardly had attempted a shot against her. Austin did her best Sherwin-Williams paint job on PN-G. She covered the earth until she turned an ankle late in the game. With prudent support from Johnna Wagner, Brittany Richmond and gritty freshman Lauren Washburn, the Nederland backliners held their ground, and blanked their backyard visitors, 1-0. Nederland (20-1 and 16-0) actually did not make its final 2007 Bulldog Stadium appearance. The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to play Crosby on Friday night in a playoff warmup game on their home field at 5:30 p.m. But this was the final home chapter that has a great meaning for so many Mid-County soccer players. PN-G (17-3 and 14-2) will have a well-rested offense when it will enter the 4A bidistrict playoffs on Friday night against Willis in Humble's Charles Street Stadium at 6 p.m. The Lady Indians will have a well-rested offense because they will only have two shot attempts to remember from the Nederland game. Meanwhile, PN-G packed it in defensively and limited Nederland to only eight attempts too. Austin deserved to end this night in a much grander fashion than she did. Instead of walking to her sideline and hearing her fans' cheers, she was riding around in a golf cart with her left shoe and sock removed. A left ankle sprain ended her outing with 3:37 to play. NHS coach Julie Johnson had to hope she owned enough defensive reinforcements to survive the rest of the game. The removal of Austin from Nederland's defense amounted to substantial subtraction. "She's a natural at that position," Johnson said. "We put in the midfield for 10 or 15 minutes in that game and she just did what we needed her to do." Austin played forward much of last season, but word leaked to Johnson that she displayed an impressive knack for handling the stopper's role during the off-season on her club soccer team. "Our sweeper decided not to play," Austin recalled the club soccer position switch. "They put me in there and it worked out. I think the word just got to coach J that I did pretty decent." Lady Indians coach Aimee Bates rated Austin's defensive work as "unbelievable." "Her versatility is what makes her a great player," the PN-G coach said. "We seemed a little flat. We weren't able to create a lot of movement off the ball." The movement away from the ball proved significant in the night's lone goal. The referees awarded NHS senior Erin Binagia a direct free kick after they ruled a PN-G defender had knocked down Nederland's Taylor Carlson shortly before the midpoint in the second half.
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