By Kyle LoJacono
The Wiregrass Ranch girls soccer team won at Freedom 6-0 Nov. 27 on the same field where its season ended in January.
The Bulls (9-0, 3-0) lost 2-1 in penalty kicks to the Patriots (1-5-3, 0-2-1) in the Class 4A-District 8 semifinals a year after the Wesley Chapel program had reached the regional finals. Freedom also defeated Wiregrass Ranch 1-0 last regular season.
“We knew coming in this game Freedom was really tough for us,” said Bulls senior forward Berlin Waters, a Saint Leo University commit. “We knew we had to come out and show them who’s boss and kind of get our revenge from last year.”
The victory is also important for this year’s district standings as a Wiregrass Ranch win Dec. 7 against Gaither would lock up the top seed in the 4A-8 tournament.
“We knew that if we could get over this hurdle we’d be looking good in the district,” said first-year Bulls coach Eddy Costa.
Wiregrass Ranch was the third seed in the six-team district last year, which forced the squad to play in the quarterfinals before facing the Patriots. A top-two finish would earn the Bulls a bye to the semifinals, meaning they would need to win only one tournament game to make the playoffs.
“The new district last year was a little difficult,” Waters said. “Now we’ve built up our confidence, and we know we can do well in this district now.”
Costa was able to get every player into the contest. He said experience is more important for the squad than trying to score eight goals and win games shortened by the mercy rule.
“We’re only as good as our weakest player, and having a strong bench is crucial at the end of the season,” Costa said. He added, “That does help those girls get the experience and get the butterflies out of their stomach.”
Wiregrass Ranch opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Vanessa Jordan made a run up the right side for her 12th goal of the season.
The Bulls found the back of the net eight minutes later when Waters scored her first of three tallies, two in the first 40 minutes. Sophomore forward Taylor Muzik-Eversdijk buried home a rocket shot from 25 yards out, and Wiregrass Ranch entered halftime ahead 4-0.
Senior midfielder Ann Cypriano rounded out the scoring by converting a free kick from 25 yards out in the 57th minute.
The Bulls have outscored their opponents 54-4 this season, with four players recording at least eight goals.
“We’re trying new things and new tactics, and throughout these games we’re really building good chemistry with each other,” Waters said. “So many people on our team can score, and we work well together.”
Costa is pleased with the offensive production, but said he is most excited about the defense.
“There’s that old saying about offense wining games and defense winning championships,” Costa said. “What I’ve told the girls from the beginning is it doesn’t matter if we score six goals a game if we give up seven. It’s great that we’ve scored 54 goals, but it’s even better that we’ve given up four. Defensively we stay compact, not just the back four, but with the system that we use.”
A big part of the defense has been senior Hannah Eder, who moved from midfield this year after not playing on the backline since seventh grade at John Long Middle.
“I was nervous at first,” Eder said. “I do think it was a good move for coach to move me because he wanted some more speed with our defense, and most of our defenders are really good technical players, so I think we have a good mesh of players in the back.”
Eder and the Wiregrass Ranch defense allowed only one shot on goal against Freedom to secure the squad’s seventh shutout of the season.
Costa said there have been many “unsung heroes” who have contributed to the 9-0 start.
“Hannah Eder did a great job, and so did (defender) Lauren Gorden,” Costa said. “She was very aggressive to the ball. Cypriano, she doesn’t score a lot, but she scored on a set piece, and that’s something we’ve been working on.”
The only major concern Costa had against the Patriots was being called offside 12 times.
“I called this the offside week,” Costa said. “We had 15 yesterday against Anclote and 12 today. That’s way too many. We’re offensive minded and the girls sometimes get too rambunctious and just go forward. The defense will step up, and sometimes our girls get caught up looking at the ball and not where the defenders are. It’s not something we tend to do that frequently, but we did this week and we’re going to correct it very quickly.”
Besides that, Costa is working to make sure the players don’t get too excited about what they’ve done and stop looking at what’s needed to keep rolling.
“Right now the biggest emphasis I give to the girls is let’s be humble,” Costa said. “Let’s go into every game knowing that we have to fight to get the first ball because teams are going to be eager to score on us.”
Eder added, “We’ve got a lot of little goals to accomplish to get to states, but with each game it’s building on what we need. We know we have enough speed, skill and athleticism to get there. … The team is great because we’re not about any individual person to win.”
The Bulls hosted Mitchell Dec. 3, but results were not available by press time. Wiregrass Ranch travels to cross-town rival Wesley Chapel Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and host Gaither Dec. 7 at 8 p.m.
Freedom plays at Strawberry Crest Dec. 5 and at 4A-8 opponent Chamberlain Dec. 7. Both games start at 6 p.m.
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
