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Prep Report: Girls Soccer Preview

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Photo by MICHAEL PISTELLA North Fort Myers forward Allison Frost (3) gets ready to accept a pass from a teammate near midfield as Estero’s Ali Tebo (8) defends. More photos from Monday’s season-opener are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.
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Photo by MICHAEL PISTELLA North Fort Myers midfielder Brianna Sherron (2) races to control the ball before it goes out of bounds with Estero’s Karlee Hoover (6) in pursuit. More photos from the Red Knights’ 1-0 victory are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.
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Photo by MICHAEL PISTELLA North Fort Myers forward Mariah Fernandez (9) heads the ball in another direction as Estero’s Melody Shipman (17) defends Monday night. More photos are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

It’s difficult to sum up the importance of the three seniors the Ida Baker girls’ soccer team lost to graduation last year, but coach Dave Trepkowski took a stab at it.

“The foundation was laid by those three,” he said. “They made our team known.”

Trepkowski was referring to midfielder Kristin Nespoli and defensive standouts Ashley Carvalho and Emily Weeks. They set the tone for last year’s landmark season, which saw the Bulldogs (15-4-3) reach the Class 5A state playoffs for the first time.

Of course, the inevitable truth of the high school game is players graduate. Good programs reload. The Bulldogs have that plan in mind as they begin play Tuesday night at Cypress Lake.

“Our goal is to win districts,” Trepkowski said. “We’re going to try and build back up.”

The high school soccer season officially began Monday night. North Fort Myers opened its season against Estero. Cape Coral takes the field Thursday against Gulf Coast, while Mariner opens next Monday at Evangelical Christian.

Mariner and Baker each emerged as District 5A-15 contenders last season, before losing close battles to Barron Collier in the district tournament.

The Tritons went 19-2-3 before losing to the Cougars in a penalty kick shootout 4-3.

The Bulldogs won a pair of district games over North and Gulf Coast before losing to the Cougars 2-1 in a match that also was decided on penalty kicks.

They then fell 2-1 to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the regional quarterfinals. Both matches were battles and the Bulldogs feel they represented themselves well on the big stage.

They’ll get a boost this season from a deep and talented freshman class, which Trepkowski said could include 11 freshmen. A few potential players are still involved in other sports, particularly cross country.

Emily Gibson, Payton Van Horn, Autumn Yesh and Sam Fisher are four of the freshmen the Bulldogs are counting on to contribute early on.

Among their more experienced players are defenders junior Allie Hare and sophomore Kelli Furhman. They were dealt a setback when one of their top forwards, senior Isa Miranda, suffered an ACL injury. Trepkowski said she may return later in the year.

Overall, he expects the team to get better as the season progresses.

“We may start off a little slow,” he said, “but I think we’ll have a more athletic team with more speed.”

The Tritons are in a transition after coach Anne Demming stepped down. Beth Gedde, who coached the JV team the past two years, takes over a program which has produced three regional appearances in the last five years.

The Tritons were hit hard by graduation, but return key players like senior midfielder Alyssa Barry, senior defender Brittany Harris, senior Brooke Albert (goalkeeper and midfielder) and senior midfielder Courtney Pruden.

Senior Brittany Steeb also figures to be a key player as goalkeeper.

The Tritons lost one of their top players, senior Alisabeth Barry, to an ACL injury. Gedde said she may return in January.

Gedde said the Tritons have a lot of tradition to uphold.

“I see us being as competitive as we’ve been in the past,” she said. “We’re young, but we have a lot of talent.”

The Tritons were set to open their season Saturday at the Cypress Lake Tournament, but it was canceled due to budget cuts, Gedde said.

Cape looks for improvements over last season when they finished 7-12-1. Seniors Shelby Rowe (goalkeeper), Carly Boscarino (midfielder) and Nina Antonacci (forward) are top returning players.

The Seahawks will be guided by new coach Dan Gross. He said the Seahawks have a bright future with a talented group of six freshmen joining the mix.

The Red Knights, who are coming off a 6-11-6 season, look to make huge strides. Second-year coach Donna Agostinelli said they’d like to finish with a winning percentage between .500 and .750.

Agostinelli said the team returns 13 starters. Among their strengths is conditioning.

“I’m really excited about the fitness level and energy of this team,” she said.

Seniors Courtney Allen and Mariah Fernandez return to lead the offensive attack, while senior Katie Crosby plays an important role as defensive sweeper.

Island Coast will compete at the JV level this season under coach Nicolet vanVeen. The Gators are expected to make the jump to varsity in 2009-10.

North Fort Myers 1, Estero 0: North Fort Myers got its season off to an exciting start with a tight victory at Moody Field over Estero Monday night.

It was a first-half goal by Larissa Pollock that provided the winning margin. Mariah Fernandez assisted on the score with a crisp centering pass to Pollock at the 18-yard box.

Shanna Manel and Brianna Abatisti shared goalkeeping duties. Each played a half and combined for 10 saves.

The Red Knights (1-0) visit Bishop Verot Tuesday night.

Boys Soccer

At Kelly Road: Mariner earned a pair of wins Monday, albeit one half each in a preseason classic skirmish.

The Tritons edged Ida Baker 2-1 on goals by Stephan Williams and Tyler Corytkowski, both assisted by Travis Edward.

The Tritons downed North Fort Myers 2-0 on goals by Cristian Marin and John Teeter with one assist from David Steeb.

Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Brust allowed one goal and saved nine shots in his first varsity action.

Mariner faces Riverdale and Lehigh in the conclusion of the tournament Wednesday.