State Ranked

After a few years out of the district title picture, Westwood showed Tuesday night that it is ready to challenge for the top spot in one of the most competitive districts in the state.

The Warriors shut out Round Rock 2-0 at home to stay unbeaten three games into District 13-6A play and push their winning streak to six games.

"We have a lot of respect for Round Rock," Westwood head coach Malcolm Framjee said. "We knew this was going to be a big game, so we made a few adjustments in the midfield and slowed down what they did well."

The Warriors started Tuesday night by hitting the post and forcing the Round Rock keeper to make a couple saves. Aisi Concannon scored the opening goal for Westwood in the first half off a free kick from Colleen Wyrick.

Junior forward Deepti Choudhury doubled the Warriors' lead in the second half when she scored after a build-up from Hailey Martinez and Skylar Zinnecker.

Framjee said Zinnecker, a freshman, leads Westwood in goals and assists this season.

Against Round Rock, 19 different Westwood athletes saw the field, and just two of them were seniors.

"This year has been a lot better because all the young people last year were playing, and they have all that experience," junior goalkeeper Madison Broadbent said. "They're a lot more confident in themselves and have been through a whole season."

The last time Westwood hosted Round Rock, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead before a strong storm rolled in. High winds didn't allow Westwood to get very deep into the Dragons' area, and Round Rock stormed back to win 4-1.

It was Westwood's first home loss in five seasons.

This season, the Warriors dropped their first game to Katy Seven Lakes, but haven't lost since

"We had a lot better start than last year," Broadbent said. "Last year was a little shaky, but we've been bonding a lot better as a team ever since. We haven't really gone down in energy. Once we got out first win, we just kept improving."

Sure, Round Rock has been to the regional tournament in back-to-back seasons, but Westwood has been to that round of the playoffs just as many times since Framjee has taken over as head coach.

It's a long season, but the Warriors are sure to be prepared for whatever is thrown at them.

"The district coaches praise us for effort, heart, and technical and tactical ability," Framjee said. "We have a lot of skillful players, but we also spend a lot of time in the film room game planning and organizing for who we're going to play."

Follow @ByZachSmith and @HCNSports on Twitter and Instagram for the latest news on all local and regional sports.