There isn’t an ounce of give up in this year’s Jordan squad. 

The Warriors are a team that has been through adversity, that has had to fight in every playoff game and a team that has come together to reach a higher level every week.

So even after playing a poor first half in Friday’s Region III-6A Semifinal and falling behind 2-1, the Warriors had no panic, if anything it made them more determined and it showed as Jordan scored two late goals to beat Brazoswood 3-2 and advance to Saturday’s regional final.

“We just know that we are tougher than everyone out there with everything that’s happened this year,” said Jordan head coach Kevin LaFollett. “It started in August and they’ve just built that toughness since then. They knew that this was going to be hard and I think they’ve embraced that. Even when we aren’t playing our best, they keep going at it and they have the confidence to get a result.”

The Warriors came out on the front foot and started very well, attacking and holding Brazoswood at bay for the first 20 minutes of the game. That pressure paid dividends in the 16th minutes when Madison Lambert found space in the box and ripped a shot that was saved, but Alex Ledbetter got the ball after the save rebounded and scored on a nice shot after getting past a defender. 

Jordan kept pushing for another and had Brazoswood on its heels, but the Bucaneers got a break in the 21st minute when a ball into the Jordan box took an odd bounce and hit a Jordan defender in the arm. The Warriors were called for a handball and Maya Funk stepped up to the spot and converted a perfectly placed penalty. 

Things went back and forth after that and both teams created chances, but the Bucanners got another in the 30th minute on another lofted ball into the Jordan box that took a deflection off of a Warriors defenders head and bounced past the keeper for an own goal as Brazoswood went into the half with a 2-1 lead.

“The coaches talk at halftime really inspired us because we realized that this could be our last game and we knew we couldn’t let that happen,” Ledbetter said. “We want to keep making history for our school and we wanted to make it to the regional final. We knew we had what it takes and we kept fighting to make it happen.”

Jordan came out in the second half and pushed for an equalizer. The Warriors sent numbers forward and tried to break down the Brazoswood back line, but the Bucanneers played deep and did everything to hold on to their lead. Jordan kept prodding though and eventually in the 67th minute found the equalizer when Ledbetter laid off a pass for Julia Cleary, who got past a defender and fired a shot near post that got past the goalkeeper and Jordan found the winner in the 76th minute when Cleary got in the box and took a shot that was saved, but again Ledbetter came up with the rebound off the save and put it past the keeper to give Jordan the win.

“Alex just causes chaos, that’s what she has done all year long,” Lafolett said. “She was involved in three goals and a goal that was called back and she just is a weapon that always makes something happen. The team played off her and they all worked together. It just made us even better.”

The Warriors move on to their first ever regional final, where they will play Seven Lakes in an all Katy ISD matchup. Jordan fell to Seven Lakes 2-0 in the teams last matchup, but they are ready and excited to get another shot with a chance to make it to the teams first ever state tournament.

“Last time around we were going through a tough time, but we’ve gotten stronger,” Ledbetter said. “We know what we have to do to win this game and we are going to push through this time. We just have to focus on winning and not putting our heads down because we know we can do this.”