Giles leads Baker girls to 10-0 victory
Senior Christine Giles scored three goals and added four assists Thursday night as the undefeated Ida Baker girls’ soccer team worked over the winless Island Coast Gators 10-0 in half the allotted time limit at Bulldogs Stadium.
The Bulldogs (22-0) used the game to work on different formations for various scenarios they may face in the playoffs in the coming weeks.
“We actually scored one goal more than I wanted to,” said Bulldogs coach Dave Trepkowski. “I didn’t want us to reach double digits. You’ve got to credit the Island Coast team for coming out and playing hard, being a new program.”
The Gators (0-14) are a new program for sure, but nonetheless overmatched against the depth and talent of the Bulldogs.
Besides Giles’ double hat trick, sophomore Jordan Goffar cracked the nets for two scores with one goal apiece by sophomores Payton Van Horn and Jennifer Martinez, freshmen Shannon Pearl and Alexys Vargas, and senior Alli Hare.
Freshman Monique Elliott had two assists with junior Kelly Fuhrmann, sophomore Tori Irvin, Van Horn and Pearl each with one assist.
Less than 1:30 into the contest Giles drilled a shot from 20 yards just under the crossbar to break the scoring ice. The second goal came 1:30 later when Van Horn took a crossing pass from Elliott within five yards of the goal and buried it in the back of the net.
The Bulldogs added three goals during a two-minute stretch to make it 5-0 with 24 minutes left in the first half. Just after the water break, and with 15 minutes left, three more goals found the net for an 8-0 cushion.
After two more scores in quick succession, the Bulldogs called off all shooting for the final six-plus minutes and worked on passing and field positioning.
Baker fired a total of 31 shots at Island Coast keeper Haylee Hood, with 18 of those aimed between the posts. Bulldogs keeper Natalia Ortiz never touched the ball even for a goal kick.
Baker plays for the Lee County Athletic Conference championship at 6 p.m. Friday at Estero.
North Fort Myers 2, Cape Coral 1: Freshman Melinda Lukas scored the game-winning goal off an assist from sophomore Kayley Quinn to lift North Fort Myers past Cape Coral.
Junior Rachel Perkins scored the Red Knights’ first goal unassisted. No goals were scored in the second half. Goalkeeper Brianna Abatisti made 16 saves to preserve the victory.
The win earned the Red Knights (9-9-3) a spot in the LCAC 9th-place game at Dunbar Friday night. Cape (8-5-5) slipped into the 5th-place game at South Fort Myers Friday.
Junior Christina Hunt got the Seahawks’ lone goal on an assist from sophomore Emily Daniels while sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Kopale recorded six saves.
Boys Soccer
Cape Coral 5, North Fort Myers 3: Sophomore Caio Amaral scored two goals and senior Guillermo Duque added one goal and two assists to lead Cape Coral past North Fort Myers.
The win sends the Seahawks (12-3-2) to the 5th-place game of the LCAC crossovers Friday night at Estero. It also dropped Mariner into the 7th-place game at Lehigh. North will play in the 11th-place game at Dunbar.
Junior Paolo Acosta and senior Fabian Fajardo added one goal apiece for the Seahawks while senior goalkeeper Daniel Villamil turned away seven shots.
Ida Baker 7, Island Coast 0: Junior striker Nick Presti scored six times to lead Ida Baker to a shutout victory over Island Coast.
Junior Daniel Sharkey tallied the other goal and handed out three assists while Juan Rincon had two assists, Lando Krumsick and Presti one each.
Bulldogs goalkeeper Jose Zuniga made two saves to preserve the shutout.
The Bulldogs (16-3-5) play for the LCAC championship at 6 p.m. Friday at South Fort Myers.
Boys Basketball
Mariner 60, Ida Baker 57: Mariner overcame an eight-point deficit with four minutes remaining to upend Ida Baker.
Senior Ricardo Barsesa led the Tritons with 19 points while junior Justin Emmons added 15 points.
The Bulldogs were red hot in the first half, connecting for 10 three-pointers to take a 37-29 lead at intermission. They cooled off in the second half, sinking just three threes and struggled down the stretch.
“Mariner got a couple of big offensive rebounds and got the crowd going,” said Baker coach Greg Coleman. “We panicked a bit and made three turnovers in a row and four or five in a two-minute stretch. Still, we had a couple of good looks at the end to try to tie it, but didn’t do it.”
Emmons finished with nine rebounds total. He and junior Sam Guerrier made the rallying rebounds and putbacks to gain the winning momentum for the Tritons.
“We had six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone,” said Tritons coach James Harris.
The Bulldogs were guilty of 19 turnovers throughout the game. Senior Justin Pascale topped the Bulldogs with 18 points on six three-pointers while Christian Davis hit for 16 points, including five threes.
“We needed to calm down at halftime,” said Harris. “We needed to stay home in our zone defense and stop helping out so much. It was a simple adjustment to make. On the offensive end we were trying to do too much. They’d hit a three and we’d try to make a bigger three.”
The Bulldogs (10-9) play at Cypress Lake and Mariner (15-6) hosts North Friday night.
Ida Baker20 17 9 11 – 57
Mariner16 13 12 19 – 60
Baker 57 – R. Serrano 3, A. Serrano 3, Manego 5, Davis 16, Dobbins 4, Pascale 18, Deems 8. Totals: 21 2-7 57.
3-point goals: A. Serrano 1, R. Serrano 1, Davis 5, Pascale 6.
Mariner 60 – Beach 8, Barsesa 19, Kuchman 8, Marrero 1, Guerrier 6, Emmons 15, Johnson 3. Totals: 23 7-17 60.
3-point goals: Barsesa 5, Kuchman 2.
Island Coast 63, LaBelle 62: Junior Billy Rees hit two free throws in the final seconds in overtime, his only points of the night, to lift Island Coast to victory over LaBelle.
Kyle Harding pitched in a game-high 20 points to lead the Gators, who also got 15 points from Isaac Aponte and 10 from Jordan Hrkach.
Terrel Griffin contributed 12 rebounds to go with five points for the Gators (6-14), who host Bishop Verot in a District 3A-12 game Friday.
LaBelle 11 13 11 19 8 – 62
Island Coast 7 15 15 16 10 – 63
LaBelle 62 – Pena 9, Ford 10, Tanner 2, Gutierrez 7, Thompson 11, Bass 5, Jones 15, Aho 2, Kelly 1. Totals: 26 7-10 62.
3-point goals: Pena 1, Ford 1, Gutierrez 1.
Island Coast 63 – Aponte 15, Orellana 4, Hrkach 10, Morris 4, Harding 20, Griffin 5, Rees 2, Perez 2, Chery 1. Totals: 21 18-33 63.
3-point goals: Hrkach 1, Harding 2.
Girls Basketball
Cape Coral 43, Port Charlotte 35: Senior Jomaris Vasquez tallied a team-high 13 points to lead Cape High to victory over Port Charlotte.
The Seahawks (9-5) hit 19 of 34 free throws to make up a deficit of three field goals.
Cape hosts South Fort Myers in a District 4A-11 game Friday.
Pt. Charlotte14 6 6 9 – 35
Cape Coral13 15 3 12 – 43
Pt. Charlotte 35 – Lockhart 2, Leineke 2, Wik 15, Simpson 7, McCarthy 11. Totals: 14 5-17 35.
3-point goals: Wik 2.
Cape Coral 43 – Vasquez 13, Griffin 9, Williams 5, Brice 4, Derek 3, Webb 7. Totals: 11 19-34 43.
3-point goals: Griffin 2.