By Todd Hveem
Chronicle correspondent

The Kingwood Lady Mustangs are still one of the top soccer teams in the Houston area.

But, over the past couple weeks, they have had to go out and perform without head coach Martha Fancher.

Fancher, who guided the Lady Mustangs to a No. 1 national ranking in her first year at the helm, was forced to have reconstructive knee surgery after injuring her knee in a women’s league soccer match.

“The ACL was definitely snapped in half, but there was less other ligament damage than originally thought,’’ said Fancher, who also had a successful stint at Klein Collins before coming to Kingwood. “There was a small tear in the LCL and MCL.’’

Fancher said she has been required to sleep in a machine that bends her knee. She also must keep her knee in the machine for at least six hours per day.

“Most of my pain is behind my knee, which the doctor said was normal,’’ Fancher said.

Fancher was able to return to school this week, and is pleased with the support.

“Everybody has been so wonderful,’’ she said. “(Assistant coach) Nancy Doehring has done an amazing job with the girls. She had to juggle three teams and none of them missed a beat.’’

Kingwood, which is 15-3 overall and 7-0 in District 19-5A, is rolling toward another District 19-5A title and should be one of the favorites in the Region III-5A playoffs.

The Lady Mustangs will host Humble at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, then travel to meet Nimitz at 7:30 p.m. Friday.