Bulldogs repel Raiders 5-0 in girls’ 4A-11 tourney
With the opening of the District 4A-11 girls’ soccer tournament, each game brings a higher level of importance to the playing field, especially for the unbeaten and untied Ida Baker Bulldogs.
If the Bulldogs were feeling any pressure, they did not show it Tuesday night at Riverdale where they rang up the host Raiders 5-0 to advance to the semifinal round Thursday night.
“I think the emotion from the Estero game (Friday night) carried over to tonight,” said Bulldogs coach Dave Trepkowski. “The girls came out ready to play. Our defense was outstanding and everyone stepped up because Riverdale came to play.”
The Bulldogs (24-0) got two goals from freshman Shannon Pearl and one each from freshman Alexsys Vargas, junior Kelly Fuhrmann and sophomore Brittney Herrera, who had missed three games with a tender ankle. Sophomore Payton Van Horn and senior Christine Giles (2) were credited with assists.
Fuhrmann scored the first goal with just over 11 minutes left in the first half, gathering up a ball that caromed off another player following Giles’ corner kick and sneaking it past the keeper from less than five yards away.
It took only a minute for the second goal to go on the board. Pearl took a throw-in from Giles, turned and scored from in front of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Vargas made it 3-0 at the half when she sent a low dribbler into the net at the near post directly off a corner kick from Giles.
Riverdale started the second half with an offensive push, but Baker’s defense turned it around. Herrera wound up with the ball on the left wing and slipped a low shot inside the near post before the keeper could react.
The score remained 4-0 for almost 34 minutes when Pearl scored her second goal of the game with a two-shot attempt. Pearl’s first blast caromed off the keeper, landed nearby and Pearl would not be denied from the doorstep.
“I wanted to make sure we kept attacking the box,” said Trepkowski. “You never know when there could be a carom or a bounce for a cheap goal.”
The Bulldogs, who recorded their16th shutout of the season and their fifth in a row, face the No. 4-seeded Cypress Lake Panthers at 5 p.m. Thursday in the 4A-11 semifinals.