Baker girls outlast Mariner 4-3
Two city rivals came up with an exciting way to end a holiday layoff – a tight, back-and-forth duel to the very end that featured two ties and two lead changes.
In the end, it was freshman Shannon Pearl who scored the game-winner that handed undefeated Ida Baker a 4-3 victory Monday night over Mariner at Tony McKenna Field.
“The effort was there tonight, but we did not execute like we should,” said Baker coach Dave Trepkowski. “I think Mariner outplayed us, and I think they wanted the game more than we did.”
The Bulldogs’ four goals were scored by four different players – freshman Monique Elliott, sophomore Brittney Herrera, senior Christine Giles and Pearl. Giles also had two assists and Herrera one.
“Coming off a long (week) break, no practice, I hope we come out with some speed,” Trepkowski said before kickoff. “We’re here to play, not watch.”
The Bulldogs indeed seemed the fresher team at the outset, getting several scoring chances early.
Herrera caught up with a long lead pass unmarked near the left corner, turned it up the end line and sent a high pass in front of the net that Elliott headed into the net for Baker’s 1-0 lead just 10 minutes into the contest.
The Bulldogs pressed the issue offensively, but missing on five shots just wide or high over the crossbar.
Mariner evened the match with eight minutes left in the half. Senior Amanda Seny outraced the defense up the left wing and squeezed the ball between Baker keeper Payton Van Horn (two saves) and the left post.
The next six minutes belonged to the Tritons, culminating in a perfectly executed corner kick from junior Kelsea Whitaker to junior Rebecca Smith, who delivered a well-timed header into the net for a 2-1 lead.
“We’ve had trouble coming together as a team,” Tritons coach Beth Gedde said. “We played together at times, like the last 10 minutes of the first half, which was the best we played the whole game. After we tied it up, they went down and scored easily and that was it. This game, we could have won, like several others, if we had played better.”
Barely a minute later, Herrera tied it at 2-2 with a high rainbow shot from 30 yards that sailed over and behind Tritons keeper Samantha Greenwell (eight saves) and into the far back corner of the net.
The Bulldogs took a 3-2 lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Giles sailed a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that Greenwell jumped for and tipped, but could not keep out of the goal.
Once again, the Tritons tied it at 3-3 with 16 minutes left on a direct kick from 20 yards out by Smith, her second goal of the night.
It didn’t take the Bulldogs long to regain the advantage, less than a minute, in fact.
“The girls responded to the tying goal with some attitude, like they weren’t going to settle for a tie,” said Trepkowski.
On the kickoff, the Bulldogs charged into the scoring area with a couple of passes and got off a couple of shots saved by Greenwell before Pearl knocked in her own rebound shot for the game-winner.
Mariner (5-4-1) plays at Riverdale and Baker (10-0) plays at North Fort Myers Tuesday night.