“Last year before every game, I thought I was going to be sick,” Darr admitted.
But thanks to her maturation and rock-solid defensive play in front of her, it is the Lady Tigers’ opponents who have been debilitated this season.
Belton’s next objective is to impair Garland Rowlett in a girls Class 5A area-round playoff at 6 p.m. today at Midlothian ISD Stadium.
A win this evening over the Lady Eagles (13-8) would put the Lady Tigers (21-1-3) - winners of 15 consecutive games - in the regional quarterfinal round for the fourth straight year.
Like past seasons, Belton has a potent attack that has already scored a single-season school record of 120 goals.
But unlike recent years, the Lady Tigers are stronger on defense, having surrendered only 10 goals. The program’s record for goals allowed in a season is 18, so that mark also is in jeopardy.
“We came in with really high expectations for ourselves and part of that is not giving up any goals,” said senior defender Kali Hellinghausen, who has signed with NCAA Division I Northwestern State. “We really united under that idea as a team.”
If Belton can post a shutout today, it would be its seventh straight and 13th in the last 15 games.
And that’s exactly what the Lady Tigers are gunning for.
“We said that we didn’t want to give up more than three goals during (District 12-5A play), and we only gave up three,” said Darr, the program’s career shutouts leader with 28. “So we met our goal during district, and now we want to do the same thing during the playoffs.”
In the past, Belton coach Barry Elkins has had his best defender in the midfield - a tactic that works well in the girls game, where players are less apt to play the ball over the top and more inclined to push it through the midfield.
This season, however, he has chosen to have Hellinghausen and junior Kallie Lahey anchor the defense from the two middle spots on the back line. So far, it’s worked like a charm.
“During the tournaments early in the season, we started to realize how well we were working together and how good we could be,” Lahey said. “And now, we’re playing with a lot of confidence.”
The Darr-Hellinghausen-Lahey trio has been successful because each player has different strengths, but all three work well together.
Hellinghausen is aggressive and can break plays up. Lahey uses her heady play to clean up anything that gets through, and Darr is there to grab everything else.
“Kali has been consistent for a couple of years and hasn’t dropped off any,” Elkins said, “and Kallie has been building all year so that now she’s playing on that highest level.
“Then Kelsi, she’s just so much better than she was even last year and it’s because of her footwork. She’s not real tall, but she doesn’t have to make the spectacular save because she moves her feet well enough to get to shots without having to dive. Her footwork compensates for her lack of length.”
The threesome knows the competition will get tougher with each successive playoff round but takes solace in its strength in numbers.
“Our defense works really well together,” Hellinghausen said. “Sometimes, the pressure doesn’t get to us as much because we cover for each other so well.”
With such a wide disparity in his team’s totals of goals scored and allowed, Elkins isn’t devising a special scheme for Rowlett, which scored six or more goals four times during 10-5A play and was a 3-2 winner over Carrollton Creekview in bi-district.
“We’re going to do what we do, no matter who the opponent is,” said Elkins, whose squad blanked Mesquite Horn 6-0 in the first round. “If we have to make an adjustment on the fly, then we’ll do that. Our girls have shown that they’re capable of doing that.”
NOTES: The Lady Tigers are 15-13 all-time in the postseason. . . . Today’s winner will advance to face the winner between Tyler Lee (9-10-2) and Garland Naaman Forest (17-5).
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
