Two days of relatively emotionless practices had Katy girls soccer coach Dianne Loftin hoping the Tigers were reserving their fire for Friday’s 5A-Region III semifinal against Clear Lake.

Problem was, the Falcons never really let the Tigers off the mat.

Clear Lake’s stifling defense took center stage Friday afternoon at Deer Park’s Abshier Stadium, limiting the Tigers to less than a handful of scoring chances – almost none after halftime – in a 2-0 victory.

“They won the ball everywhere on the field,” Loftin said. “We won a huge game Tuesday night (against Cinco Ranch in a regional quarterfinal) and it was hard to come back from that high. The first 20 minutes we could tell we were really flat. But Clear Lake is a good squad and we fought hard.”

Two freshmen scored to power Clear Lake (20-3-4) into the regional final against Kingwood at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Deer Park.

Midfielder Tori Sample scored off a throw-in with 16:10 left in the first half, and forward Brittney Wade was credited with the insurance goal with 3:50 to play. The second goal came close to going in off a Katy defender.

The Tigers, playing in their first regional semifinal since 2002, finished 20-7-1.

Six freshmen and seven sophomores see considerable time for the Falcons, who have allowed only five goals all year.

“We just focus on good rotations and good marking and keeping the opponent away from our goal,” Clear Lake coach Andy Gaworecki said. “They’re strong offensively and we played well enough to deny them opportunities at our goal.

“We knew No. 14 (Kayla Walker) was strong and fast; we identified her from the beginning and wanted to make sure we kept her under coverage all the time. Other than that we just played our game. We just rotated and kept pressure on the ball all the time so no one got free looks in space.”

For as much emotion as Tuesday’s win against Cinco Ranch took out of Katy, Clear Lake was as infused after ousting 2007 state finalist Deer Park 1-0 on Tuesday.

Wade, who doesn’t usually start, scored that game’s only goal. Her name was called as much Friday for her defense as her offense.

“I just try to energize the team,” she said. “Since I come off the bench I just try to make an impact.”

Loftin said the Tigers were taken somewhat off-guard by the physical play. Some of the team’s previous playoff games, she said, were called much tighter.

“In the second half we did a much better job at winning balls and playing aggressively,” Loftin said. “But physically they’re bigger and stronger than us and they took advantage.” 

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