Action gets underway at Sam Parker Stadium with first kick at 7 pm. A ticket to the regional semifinals at Tyler’s Rose Stadium awaits the victor.

Pleasant Grove is no stranger to the party having advanced to the regional finals last year before bowing out to Kilgore. The Lady Hawks are a soccer juggernaut of sorts with six consecutive district titles and trips to the regional tournament both last year and in 2016.

Spring Hill, in sharp contrast, is the new kid on the block. The Lady Panthers, in their eighth year of existence, lassoed the first district title in program history this season. Impressive in the fact they wrestled it away from perennial power Kilgore in a definitive 4-1 regular-season finale triumph two weeks back.

Tonight’s game features a rematch of an early season meeting between the two schools. Spring Hill, playing minus several players still playing basketball, dropped a 2-1 decision on January 16.

The Lady Panthers jumped to the early 1-0 lead, but fell late when Lady Hawk senior defender Ashlyn Garner found the back of the net in the second half. That’s one of only two times Spring Hill has trailed all season. The other was in its 1-0 loss to Kilgore on February 26.

Pleasant Grove, winners of eight straight, as is Spring Hill, dropped a 1-0 decision to Hallsville in early January and stumbled to district neighbor Paris by the same score in early February. The Lady Hawks finished knotted 1-1 with Paris at the end of regulation in their third meeting on March 12. They prevailed, however, in a shootout.

“They’re a very good team. We watched them Monday against Bullard and they are very athletic and play their style of game really well,” said Lady Panther coach Jimmy Dowell of their upcoming opponent. “You can only take that revenge thing so far. It lasts about five minutes and then you just got to go play.”

Spring Hill’s offense has managed 120 goals thus far (6.30 avg) and surrendered only 11 goals (0.58 avg). Pleasant Grove’s offense may not be as potent, but it’s still pretty darn good with 83 netters (4.15 avg). Defensively, PG has only allowed 10 past the keeper (0.50 avg).

“We’ve got to rely on what we’ve done all year and the things we’ve worked on. We just want to try and be the hardest working team on the field,” Dowell said. “I believe that if we do that then we have as good a shot in any game. Just do our job and do the things that we do well.”

The Lady Panther offense is spearheaded by senior scoring machine Olyvia Dowell, who has managed 48 goals to date and gives Lady Hawk coach Andy Allen the most concern.

“She’s a tremendous player. No question we have to account for her. But that might not matter. She’s just that good. Probably one of the best players in our region,” Allen said of the Oklahoma State bound Dowell. “She scored the goal on us and it was one of the best I’ve ever seen. That and they’re very well coached.”

Freshman Jayme Dowell, Olyvia’s younger sister, is second on the team in goals with 20. Senior keeper Macy Borens has just five goals against in 14 games, while senior Ashleigh Martin has 11 goals and junior Hannah Yoder 10.

PG’s offensive scoring is spread out among the quartet of seniors Lauren Hughes, Sophia Tuttlebee, Aubrey Oliver and sophomore Delia Tuttlebee. The Lady Hawks are a senior-laden bunch with eight on the roster and six starting.

Goalie Avery Jensen is one of those seniors and headed to play in at Hendrix.

“They have a lot of speed up front,” Dowell said of the Lady Hawks. “With a lot of seniors they are a pretty experienced team. They play hard and physical and sometimes that presents problems. We just need to play with confidence and, like I said, be the hardest working team on the field. It’s gonna be fun.”