Two Late Goals Lift Jenkins

George Jenkins scored a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes and snuck out of Veterans Stadium and into the regional final match with a 3-2 win.

"Our girls played their hearts out," Winter Haven coach Soctt Short said. "We've outplayed them several times before, but we've never been able to do it on the scoreboard. We always make that one mistakes that ends up hurting us."

The decisive goal came after a superb diving save.

A shot from the Eagles' Brittany Trawick bounced off the diving goalkeeper's hands and rolled at the feet of Ashley Yamnitz, who scored the goal in the 75th minute.

It was the first lead the Eagles had in the game.

Three minutes prior, Kayla Bala tied the score at 2 with a straight shot to the center of the net from about 10 yards out.

"In the final 10 minutes, we went with three in the back and put in an extra midfielder," Jenkins coach Joe Lenard said. "We felt like we could press them. We knew a couple of places we felt like we could expose them, and that was where we tried to attack."

The Eagles (24-0-1) owned the last 10 minutes, but Winter Haven (20-5-1) owned the first 70.

Katelyn Ober scored on a free kick just outside the box in the 26th minute, and the Blue Devils held the lead at halftime. Tori Abnathy tied the game in the 44th minute with a shot across her body into the left corner.

It wasn't long after when Anna Rombola worked her way through three Eagle defenders and scored for a 2-1 lead.

"Something happened at the end and we seemed to be losing our legs," Short said. "Even though we were up, (Jenkins) just kept coming back and we just couldn't hold it. I really feel bad for the seniors. They would really like to move a little further."

Jenkins will face Lithia Newsome on Friday for the regional championship.

Short had said earlier that getting opportunities was the key against the Eagles, and Winter Haven had no problem getting them.

Lindsey Short had a free kick from the right side just outside the box that went long, the Devils just missed on two consecutive corner kicks and the Eagle defense founght off several long runs by Ober and Rombola.

"We had a lot of possession time, especially early in the game," Short said. "Two goals really should win a game like this. Giving up three goals, really hurts. If you give up three goals in a game like this, usually you aren't going to get very far."