Land O’ Lakes girls soccer streak ends
By Kyle LoJacono
Before this season, the Wiregrass Ranch High girls soccer team had zero district tournament wins, but the 2010-11 version put up three Ws in the event to earn the Class 4A-District 8 championship.
The Bulls (21-2-2) won the tournament, played at Land O’ Lakes High, by beating the five-time defending district champs and No. 1 seed River Ridge 3-2 in the title game Jan. 21. Wiregrass Ranch earned the No. 2 seed in the event and split the two regular season meetings with the Knights (20-3-2).
“There wasn’t any intimidation factor,” said first-year Bulls coach Erin Dodd. “We knew what their record was, what their history was. We also knew that we’re a great team and we can beat anybody that we come up against. Hopefully that continues. River Ridge is a great team and it’s been a great battle with them all season. It just feels good and I know that the girls are ecstatic.”
After the game, Dodd’s players doused her with ice water to celebrate the win.
Sophomore goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby had 16 saves in the win, including one on a breakaway from River Ridge senior Jessica Tata with less than four minutes remaining. Tata entered the contest with 22 goals on the season.
“Dayton is a great goalkeeper and our defense really came through tonight,” Dodd said. “She made some amazing saves and some of our defenders kept the ball out of the net as well. They knew what tonight meant and they wanted it so bad. They knew that we could beat this team, and they did it.”
Wetherby said she is always surprised after she makes a save.
“I love being a part of something where I can help with other people,” Wetherby added. “It’s just great to know that it’s
not just for me. It’s for the team and it’s for our school. That’s the best part.”
The Bulls got on the board when sophomore Berlin Waters scored off an assist from senior Nicole Esposito to take a 1-0 lead. That gave the inexperienced squad some additional confidence.
“As soon as we scored everyone was just so happy,” said Waters, who attended Academy at the Lakes last season. “As soon as that happened we knew we could win this.”
Also scoring for Wiregrass Ranch in the title game was sophomore Anne Cypriano and junior Christina Wojaczyk.
While the Bulls have reached their first regional tournament, Land O’ Lakes failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2000. The Gators (12-7-3) entered the event as the No. 4 seed, but were eliminated by Nature Coast 2-1 in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals. Teams need to reach the tournament finals to advance.
Freshman Brooke Sivest scored the lone goal for the Gators off an assist from senior Jayme Forcier.
Zephyrhills High entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the nine-team event, but having won its last four games. The Bulldogs (5-12-6) were matched up against No. 9 Hernando, but dropped the contest 2-1. Sarah Denney scored the lone goal for the east Pasco County squad.
Sunlake High (3-10-5) was the No. 7 seed, matching them up against Wiregrass Ranch in the first round. The Bulls topped the Seahawks 6-0 with a pair of goals by Waters and A.J. Blount and one apiece from Sierra Monday and Jordanyne’ Fye.
The Bulls followed up their first win ever in a district tournament with another victory, this time a 4-1 defeat of the No. 6 seed Lecanto High in the semifinals. Blount recorded a hat trick and Monday added another goal.
Dodd, who coached the girls soccer team at Dr. John Long Middle the previous four seasons, said she knew the team had a great chance to make regionals after seeing them in their first practices.
