After a motivating mercy rule of district rival Jefferson on Friday night, the Lady Knights varsity soccer team (2-8-1) squandered an opportunity against Wharton (7-2) on their home field. Falling behind 6-0 in the first half, the Robinson defense was unable to defend Wharton’s frequent offensive assaults.

“In the first half we got flustered and they were aggressive on us,” Robinson Head Coach Billy Helms said. “Pretty simply we need to watch more film and correct the mistakes we find.”

While still a discouraging loss for Robinson fans, the scoreboard didn’t tell the whole story on Wednesday night. On quite a few occasions the Lady Knights set each other up for prime scoring opportunities that they were unable to capitalize on. In addition, Robinson managed to avoid an eminent mercy rule by showing conspicuous improvement in the second half.

“In the second half we adjusted and they only got one goal on us,” Helms recounted. “I was happy about the way we stepped up our play.”

Though frustrated by the end result, defender Sophie Bailey (’19) also saw potential in the way young team fought to the end.

“In the second half we reduced our mistakes a lot and had some good counter attacks,” Bailey said. “We’re just going to try to use these games to prepare for districts and playoffs going forward.”

The Lady Knights face off against Middleton on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Robinson High School (6311 S. Lois Ave., 33616) at 6 p.m.