The Douglas Lady Bulldogs soccer team suffered back to back losses last week.

Douglas' Ashley Aguilar battles a Empire player for the ball in the Lady Bulldogs match with Empire last week. Douglas lost the match 4-0. Bruce Whetten/Douglas Dispatch

The Lady Bulldogs began the week losing 4-0 to Empire at Douglas High School.

Empire led 1-0 at the half scoring on a defensive breakdown by the Lady Bulldogs.

Douglas coaches made some adjustments at half time but were unable to connect on any goals the second half while Empire tacked on three more.

“It just wasn’t our night,” Douglas’ Coach Mario Romero said. “We defeated ourselves. We had too many breakdowns defensively. We were getting beat to the ball; we out shot them 16-13.”

Amanda Teran had 7 saves at goalie while Kianna Ross , Erika Romero and Victoria Morales all played well attacking the ball, the coach said.

On Thursday, Dec. 13 the Lady Bulldogs were in Tucson facing Palo Verde, the No. 1 ranked team in preseason.

Douglas would end up losing that game 4-1.

“We played a very well game against the pre-season No. 1 ranked Palo Verde,” Coach Romero said. “We did some things defensively that worked. We looked much better than we did against Empire. The girls were ready and had a lot of confidence going into this match.”

Palo Verde led 1-0 at the half then scored a goal early in the second half going up 2-0.

Erika Romero found the back of the net in the 53rd minute to close the gap to 2-1.

Palo Verde countered with two more goals taking a 4-1 lead.

“They came on strong and never let up,” Coach Romero said. “The girls played aggressive and moved the ball well the whole night. I was pleased with everyone’s performance �- that’s all I can ask for. Hopefully this is a momentum builder for the team, knowing that they could play with the best. It was a great team effort.

The Lady Bulldogs are back in Tucson this week playing in the Palo Verde tournament Dec. 19-22.