Port Neches Groves soccer makes history with playoff berth
Published on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 12:18 AM
- Port Neches Groves High School coach Amy Bates is working with her team ahead of the end of the regular season. (Chris Moore/The News)
PORT NECHES — Port Neches Groves girls soccer continues to do well, with the team advancing to the regional semifinals for the second year in a row with a 3-0 win over Friendswood on Tuesday.
The win gave PNG its 26th win of the season, the most in program history.
In this game, he also achieved his 18th shutout of the season. PNG has outscored opponents 135-19 this season. The team outscored its playoff opponents 17-0 in the first three rounds, also a program record.
“On both sides, we're scoring a lot of goals and defensively we're preventing goals. That's what keeps us in the game,” head coach Amy Bates said.
PNG's women's national team reached the fourth round from 2015 to 2019 and last year.
A team has never failed to make it past the fourth round.
The Indians next play Hendrickson in Humble on Friday at 1 p.m.
“We're very excited,” Bates said. “The girls performed well in all three playoff games. They are very motivated and focused and take care of business.”
Emery Riley scored the team's first goal with 24:12 left in the first half, followed by Emma Bates with 5:07 before halftime.
Senior captain Holly Husen scored her team's winning goal with 22:08 left to end the game.
Bates said his team has been on a roll all season and will know before the game if the team is up to the challenge.
“You can kind of feel it when you're on the bus,” Bates said. “No matter where we are, we always have pregame meetings. We meet on the side and do things as a team, and that's when I can feel it and see it. You can tell they’re ready for the battles they’re going to fight.”
The team has achieved excellent results throughout the year.
PNG, on a 10-game winning streak, finished the season with a record of 13 wins and 1 loss in district games, not allowing a goal since March 19, and allowing only five goals since the beginning of February.
