Teams Prepare for Post Season

from naplesnews.com

BARRON COLLIER

The Cougars girls soccer team has wrapped up the No. 1 seed in next week’s District 5A-15 tournament and is eager to start its quest for its fourth-straight championship. The only problem is the regular season isn’t over yet.

Barron coach Ray Morgan said his team was itching to start tournament play. The Cougars will need all their focus, though, if they hope to start district play on a good note. They close their regular season schedule at Bishop Verot and at home against Plantation-American Heritage.

“The girls are excited, but that might be the problem,” Morgan said. “Now we have two of the strongest teams we face all year. We might overlook those games because we’re ready for districts.”

The Cougars are 15-2 overall this season and 7-1 in the district. They average almost five goals a game, led by Jamie Lockie and Casey Thames who have scored a combined 42 times.

— Adam Fisher

ESTERO

With more than half of the roster occupied by freshmen, it’s easy to forget that there is experience on the girls soccer team.

A good chunk of that experience was honored Monday in a pregame ceremony on senior night.

Estero’s 5-0 win against Lehigh marked the final regular season home game for Hayley Bennett, Samantha Hoover, Kayla Kincaid and Jordan Tarquino.

“I think they’ve picked up where other seniors have left off,” coach Ali Fabbro said. “I’m not disappointed in them at all. I’m impressed by them. I know they’ll play strong in districts.”

Senior forward Kaitlin Conidaris was also recognized. Conidaris took on the role of team manager after she suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the season.

Estero (11-4-1) finished first in the East Division of the LCAC. The Wildcats will visit West champion Cypress Lake at 5 p.m. Friday for the conference title.

— Kevin Johnson

FIRST BAPTIST ACADEMY

With one game left this year, Lions girls soccer coach Marcus Rodriguez is happy with his team’s progress in its second junior varsity season.

First Baptist is 2-7 this season, which is one more win than last year. The Lions have been shut out only once and have had several late-game leads.

Rodriguez said he can see his team learning more about the sport each day. More than half of the Lions 15 players are eighth-graders or freshmen. The coach said only a couple of team members play soccer outside of school, so the game is relatively new to them.

“They’re building upon past experiences,” Rodriguez said. “They’re maturing and learning what to do during the games. Now they have to develop the skills to do it.”

— Adam Fisher

LELY

The Lely girls soccer team is at St. John Neumann for a 6 p.m. game today. In their first meeting Lely won easily, 6-1. Lely hosts First Baptist Academy at 6 p.m. on Friday to finish out the regular season.

Coach Mark Lopez says the Trojans won’t be looking ahead, but they are very conscious of the district playoffs, which begin next Wednesday.

The Trojans (10-7) finished third in the district. In the first round they play Naples at 7 p.m. All games are at host Immokalee. On the season, Lely split with Naples, winning 1-0 and losing 4-3.

“We have the scoring power, we just need to make sure we play strong defense against Naples,” Lopez said. “We really have to mark up on defense, that will be the biggest factor, keeping them out of the net. I think we have a real good shot.”

The boys team has four non-district games left before they play in 4A-12 playoffs on Jan. 28. The Trojans, 5-5-5, lost to Naples and Palmetto Ridge won on Tuesday night, taking Lely from a shot at second place to a fourth-place finish. The Trojans will play fifth-seed Immokalee. If Lely wins they will face top seed Golden Gate.

“We’re competitive but we need to take what we are doing in practice to the game,” coach Rob Schank said. “We are a young team, with just two seniors. We need to do better in transition from back to front and be quicker with our passing.”

— Roger LaLonde