Land O’ Lakes earns district title
By Kyle LoJacono
The Wesley Chapel girls soccer team earned the first playoff berth in the program’s 13-year history by reaching the Class 3A-District 7 finals at Zephyrhills.
Land O’ Lakes (14-6-3) claimed the district championship, its first since 2003, by defeating the Wildcats (9-11) 3-0 in the finals on Jan. 20, but both teams earned a postseason spot by making the title game. The Gators got goals from Arielle Le-Tran, Makenzie Fish and Alexa Satmary.
Wesley Chapel beat Sunlake (7-9-6) 2-0 in the first semifinals on Jan. 18 and the Gators took down the Bulldogs (10-9-2) by the same score in the later contest.
The Wildcats were the No. 1 seed in the event, a huge turnaround from a program that went 10-65 the previous five seasons including 3-10-2 last year when Michelle Clark became their coach.
“This team came together with a lot of girls who might not have been soccer players from the time they were young, but they’re athletes and they have heart,” Clark said. “To go from last place in the district a year ago to first place in the district this year, and to be competing at this level, I cannot even explain how proud I am.”
Clark was accustomed to making the postseason while at Land O’ Lakes, where she helped the Gators make regionals three straight seasons from 1996-98, but said she was more nervous before the semis this year than any game when she played.
“There was a lot on their shoulders,” Clark said a. “Everybody told them it’s up to you to change the history at this school, and we already have, but to win tonight was just that next step. I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I knew if I could show them what the potential was they could do anything.”
Tess Gemberling, who missed all of last year with a torn ACL, set up the Wildcats’ first goal against Sunlake in the 29th minute on a corner kick buried home by Briana Rosario.
Gemberling added a score of her own in the first minute of the second half when she slipped past three Seahawks defenders and hit a bullet past goalkeeper Sydney Sullivan.
“We’d beaten them twice before, so I knew we could do it if we played as well as we did before,” said Gemberling, as senior. “I was anxious and a little nervous, but we just kept telling each other we could do it.”
Tori Drum helped preserve the shutout by blocking a free kick from 5 yards out of the penalty box in the final minute. The defender was forced from the game after hurting her right calf with 12 minutes left in the contest, but returned for the final moments.
“It cramped earlier, and when I went to go shield my goalie I got kicked in the back of the leg and it got worse,” Drum said. “It was worth it to save a goal.”
While the Wildcats were qualifying for their first playoff berth, Land O’ Lakes was starting a new streak. The Gators had their 11-year run of postseason appearances stopped last year.
“One year was long enough,” said 25-year Land O’ Lakes coach Vicky King.
The 2-0 victory over Zephyrhills was even more exciting for Le-Tran, who missed districts last year with a torn ACL.
“To get back to the playoffs my senior year is super exciting,” Le-Tran said. “They beat us twice this season, but we knew it’s very hard to beat a team three times in one season. We came in with a lot of confidence.”
Land O’ Lakes goalkeeper Ariana Bailey made seven saves to preserve the shutout.
Catherine Gray put in her own rebound in the 28th minute to open up the scoring, and Alyssa Lonsway added an insurance goal in the 75th.
“It was very satisfying to get that goal at the end,” said Lonsway, who leads the Gators with 11 goals after playing defense last year. “We all kept pushing and because the whole team did that I was able to score at the end.”
The end of the game got chippy. Zephyrhills had two players ejected in the final 10 minutes, one on a red card and another after receiving back-to-back yellows.
“Our team has always been able to play with a lot of composure,” Le-Tran said. “Even with what happened in the game we were able to do that. Keep it collected on the field and not lose control because there’s no reason to.”
