SAGINAW – Good things come to those who wait. For Aledo Ladycats soccer head coach Bryan Johnson it was worth the wait as the Ladycats mercy ruled the Saginaw Lady Rough Riders, 9-0, on Friday, Feb. 28, to hand Johnson win No. 200 as the Ladycats gaffer and No. 300 for his career.
“This morning was no indication that was happening anywhere, anytime,” Johnson said as he reveled in his team’s performance. “We just kind of went through the motions. We put in a couple of new corners, but we only got the one opportunity. I guess when you put nine in the back of the net you don’t really need corners.
“There’s always things to work on, but I’m so proud of them. They came out with a purpose and knocked it out of the park. Hopefully we can continue to drive that through into the playoffs, because that’s the team that I think we have.”
Heading into the final week of the regular season the Ladycats (13-4 overall, 8-2 in District 5-5A) have secured a playoff berth along with the top seed in district as the playoff picture continues to take shape. Following his team’s performance in Saginaw, Johnson has high hopes for their playoff run.
“I was really impressed with these girls tonight,” Johnson added. “The sky is the limit. I told them this morning when I was talking to them about my end, I said we’ve got 320 minutes of soccer. That’s all we’ve got left. That’s all that we’re promised, because we’ve made the playoffs. We have that one more game [in bi-district], so we’re guaranteed 320 minutes. Anything after that is gonna be cake. And I’d like to be celebrating in April.”
From the opening whistle Aledo was clearly the more dominant futbol club. The Ladycats dominated possession of the ball, regained possession quickly in the instances it was lost, and bullied the Lady Rough Riders while defending and advancing.
Within minutes of the start of play Aledo had their first score of the match as Ally Weimer put a through ball between the Saginaw back line. Ainsley Elmore did what she does so beautifully as she dropped her shoulder to get by her marker before kicking it into high gear to win the foot race to the ball. Once she reached the ball it was a one-on-one situation with the keeper with Elmore taking the advantage for the opening score.
Once the opening goal hit the net subsequent goals came flooding in like a tidal wave that overwhelmed the hosting Lady Rough Riders. Weimer and Baylee Velarde scored a pair of goals each. Avery Sands put one in during the first half. Conley Hamilton rounded out the scoring onslaught to make it 9-0 with the newly minted mercy rule being invoked for the first time this season midway through the second half.
The Lady Rough Riders didn’t threaten Aledo’s defense often, but the few times they managed to, the Ladycats remained resilient. Freshman goalkeeper, Audrey Obana made a couple spectacular saves in the net for the Ladycats to earn a clean sheet.
“The way they played tonight, it was like the biggest hug or the biggest ‘thank you’ you could ever get,” Johnson said reflecting on the milestone. “They showed a lot of love. And then to tell me at halftime they want to get to eight [goals] so we can go home, I was like whatever. But they just kept pouring it on knowing they can score as many as they can before that 20-minute mark. This will be one I’ll always remember.”
“Two hundred here with these girls. It’s been a pretty amazing 18 years here at Aledo High School. It’s been special doing this with these parents and these kids in this community. When I started this thing 18 years ago most of these kids weren’t even born. My career’s been a fairytale. I tell people all the time that I’m very blessed,’ he added.
Friday’s home match against Saginaw was always going to be a tough outing for the Bearcats (12-3-2 overall, 8-1-1 in district). The Rough Riders’ loss to Brewer coupled with Aledo’s win over Fossil Ridge just days earlier allowed the Bearcats to knock Saginaw out of the top spot in the District 5-5A standings.
The Rough Riders entered Tim Buchanan Stadium looking to reclaim the top spot by any means necessary.
A tightly contested match throughout, both teams managed to notch a goal on their side of the scoreboard in the first half. Aledo took an early 2-1 advantage in the second half, but an injury to starting goalkeeper Pierce Ling opened the door for Saginaw to close the gap.
That’s exactly what they did in short order moments after Ling left the match. The goal not only tied the game up 2-2 with time ticking down, but it also swung the momentum into the Rough Riders favor.
Not wanting to end up in a shootout with their best keeper on the sidelines, Aledo did what they do best: They went to work. Their hard work and hustle paid off just in the nick of time as a late goal for the Bearcats led them to victory and secured their top spot in the district standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
Aledo’s regular season schedule comes to an end on Friday, March 7 with only Azle left. The Bearcats will welcome the Hornets to Tim Buchanan Stadium for their final match of the season.
Meanwhile, the Ladycats will travel to Azle as they look to close out their 2025 campaign with one last win before the playoffs get underway. Both of those matches are set to kickoff at 7:45 pm.
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