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Three years ago, Taylor Olson and Christa Morovitz were the fresh faces of Reagan girls soccer. They were young, talented and fearless, providing crucial contributions to the team’s run to the UIL state tournament in 2014.
Their roles have changed — they are team leaders now. But their impact remains just as resounding.
“A lot has changed, but not a lot at the same time,” Morovitz said. “It’s the same game and motive. I need to help my team.”
Olson scored three goals and Morovitz had two clutch second-half saves to stem the opponent’s momentum as top-ranked Reagan pulled away from No. 3 Johnson 4-2 on Tuesday in a District 26-6A showdown at Comalander Stadium.
The Rattlers (11-1-2, 4-0) won their 11th straight game, recovering after losing a two-goal lead. Olson scored the game-winner in the 49th minute, sending a free kick into the upper left corner from 20 yards out. The goal came two minutes after Johnson tied it at 2-2 on a goal from Ashley Stamps. Delaney Morris’ header in the 27th minute pulled the Jaguars (7-4-1, 3-1-1) within 2-1 at halftime.
Alexa Fincke put in Julia Thiel’s free kick to give Reagan a 1-0 lead. Olson followed with the first of her three goals.
“We knew if we went up, they were going to come back even harder to try and match it,” Olson said. “With that in mind, I think we failed because we just kind of settled down and didn’t push to keep going. We have to play our game for the whole 80 minutes.”
With Reagan nursing a 3-2 lead, Morovitz made two diving saves to preserve the margin. Olson added an insurance goal with 1:03 left.
“I definitely think I have more experience now, and that’s definitely helped me get more confident in the goal and helped me communicate with my teammates more efficiency,” Morovitz said.
Boys
Reagan 2, Johnson 2: The No. 6 Jaguars twice rallied from one-goal deficits to draw with the No. 2 Rattlers.
Ethan Caban and Braden Bradford each scored once for Johnson (8-3-2, 3-0-2). Alan Salgado and Justin Sukow scored for Reagan (9-1-3, 2-0-2).
tthomas@express-news.net
Twitter: @en_terrence