The Rider girls soccer team has scored 91 goals heading into the Region I-5A Tournament.
Senior forwards Mia Gilmore and Jimena Rodriguez combined have scored more than half of those goals. Rodriguez enters Friday’s 12:30 p.m. regional semifinal against Lubbock Coronado with 29 goals, while Gilmore has 18.
“It’s been a really special season,” Gilmore said. “I feel like not everybody had a lot of faith in us at first because we lost so many seniors, but we’ve been able to pull together and make our team our own and have fun.”
Gilmore suffered an early setback in the season, having hip issues which kept her out of multiple tournaments.
“It was kind of upsetting sitting out because it’s my senior year,” Gilmore said. “I think it was a good period of time for me to get to sit back and appreciate our team and who we are, and it was nice to experience the year in a different way than I would have, even though it did make it more challenging to get back in.”
Fellow senior forward Jimena Rodriguez remembers their last trip to regionals a year ago when the Lady Raiders fell to Grapevine in the regional finals.
“I’m really excited to make it, we made it last year and I’m glad to get to go this year,” Rodriguez said. “I hope we have the confidence that we had last year going into this tournament, and that we play hard like we have been and not give up.”
Rodriguez recently broke the all-time scoring record for a Rider girls soccer player, a record that cannot be beaten now that the school is closing. She has 92 goals entering the regional tournament.
“I was so excited when it happened,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been looking forward to beating this since one of my coaches told me about it over the summer. That’s what I’ve been aiming for this entire year, and when I finally broke it, I was extremely excited, over the top. It’s going to be something I’m going to remember.”
Both Rodriguez and Gilmore have been putting in their best effort, with Gilmore scoring the first goal in the past two playoff games — a 2-1 overtime win over Burleson Centennial and a 3-2 victory over Joshua.
“I’m just so happy that I’ve been able to contribute to the team, I love being able to put my best food forward and lead in that way,” Gilmore said. “And to set us up for success, to me that’s just the coolest feeling.”
Gilmore and Rodriguez haven’t just been playing since high school, their soccer history stretches before that.
“Mia is a great player and a great help for the team,” Rodriguez said. “We played club together when we were little, and being able to play together in high school is such an amazing thing because we’ve built up this connection on the field.”
Gilmore believes that their long soccer history has forged the two into a strong, hard-working team.
“I think what’s really special about Jimena and I, about our relationship, is that we’ve played together for so long,” Gilmore said. “No matter what the team is, we can come together and play our game together, and we really complement each other.
“And when it comes down to it, she’ll always put her head down and work as hard as she can to get the goal and win the game. She’s just a hard worker.”
Gilmore is excited to be back playing at Memorial one last time, too.
“I’m proud of my teammates and all of our coaches that support us and have gotten us to the point that we’re at today,” Gilmore said. “I think it’s going to be a ton of fun.”
