Baker girls escape with 1-0 victory
Senior Christine Giles buried a shot low in the corner of the net from just outside the 18-yard box with 2 1/2 minutes remaining to give Ida Baker a 1-0 victory in District 4A-11 girls’ soccer action Tuesday night at North Fort Myers.
“We played awesome tonight,” said Red Knights coach Donna Agostinelli. “It was a tremendous game. We’ve been a second-half team, but I think we pressured them better in the first half tonight.”
The Bulldogs had the upper hand most of the time, but came away empty for nearly 78 minutes. North defenders managed to turn away every advance with goalkeeper Brianna Abatisti registering 26 saves overall.
“Our girls did not want the game to end in a tie,” said Baker coach Dave Trepkowski. “They stepped it up a bit, and didn’t show any nerves. I was pleased with the play and would not have been disappointed if it had ended in a tie. Their goalkeeper was outstanding.”
Payton Van Horn and Natalia Ortiz shared goalkeeping duties for Baker, recording two saves apiece.
Ortiz made one spectacular save in the second half to preserve the shutout and extend the Bulldogs’ unbeaten streak to 11 in a row. Facing a breakaway run, Ortiz reached overhead to block the shot over the crossbar.
The Red Knights (4-3-2, 3-2 district) host Island Coast at 7:30 p.m. Friday. It’s a doubleheader at Moody Field with the boys’ teams kicking off at 6 p.m.
The Bulldogs (11-0, 5-0 district) host Evangelical Christian at 6 p.m. Monday in their annual breast cancer awareness game. Tickets to the game are $3 with a portion of the proceeds and other donations going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Fans are asked to wear as much pink as possible.
There will be a special memorial tribute for Francois Prudhomme DeLoder, a soccer coach at ECS, who passed away recently from pancreatic cancer.