And in the case of these sisters, make that a foot or well-timed flick of the head in their team’s success on the soccer field. With senior Lauren providing steady play and scoring at midfielder and junior Kaitlin pacing a tough-to-crack defense, they’ve helped Temple achieve its winningest season in more than a decade.
The Muniz sisters and the rest of the Lady Wildcats play Garland at 6:30 p.m. today at Baylor’s Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field in a Class 5A area-round playoff.
“I think they’ve got that competitive attitude,” Temple coach Oscar Bersoza said. “The kids are both go-getters.”
Both played major - and often similar - roles in Temple’s 1-0 bi-district win over Mesquite on Tuesday.
In the 17th minute, Lauren went up in midair and flicked the ball toward Shannon Fogleman, who headed it in for the Lady Wildcats’ lone score.
Going up above the crowd in front of the goal, Lauren says, simply comes down to desire.
“It’s just, ‘I want the ball more than they do.’ I tell myself that before every corner kick, every throw-in,” said Lauren, who’s scored nearly 10 goals this season.
Kaitlin, along with Lauren, spent much of the next 60 minutes making sure Mesquite didn’t get any closer. The Muniz sisters and their teammates turned away the Lady Skeeters time after time, including eight corner kicks and two free kicks.
“Once we scored, we knew that defense was our biggest focus for the next 60 minutes,” Lauren said. “It was really nerve-wracking, but every corner kick that we gave up, we knew we had to win.”
With Kaitlin leading the Lady Wildcats’ last line of defense, they’ve been a tough group to score on. Temple has 10 shutouts, three in its last five games.
Kaitlin seemingly has been in the right spot at the right time nearly all year long, despite not playing competitive soccer until two years ago.
“My No. 1 thing is to get to each ball before everybody else,” Kaitlin said. “Just being aggressive kind of helps.”
For the Lady Wildcats, success on defense requires everyone to play a part. That means Lauren often drops back to make sure the action doesn’t get too far in Temple’s territory.
And the ability to read the field and understand what’s happening around her is Lauren’s biggest strength. Her knowledge of the game is just one reason why she’ll continue playing in college at NCAA Division II school Southwest Baptist (Mo.).
“The more time you spend on the soccer field, the more situations . . . that comes a little bit more with that,” Bersoza said. “She does a good job of watching the play develop and seeking things out.”
When these two step on the field, their relationship, they say, doesn’t change. They want the best for the other, even if that means occasionally taking the other to task.
“On the field, we’re our toughest critics,” Lauren said. “I get on to her and she gets on to me.”
But deep down there’s always a sense of belief.
“We trust each other more than anyone else,” Kaitlin said, “because we are so close.”
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
