Wildcats blanked at Bartram Trail

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Wildcats blanked at Bartram Trail

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ST. JOHNS — Forest’s girls soccer team had its chances, but just couldn’t overcome Bartram Trail in the opening round of the Class 5A regional playoffs.

The Wildcats (17-4-2) kept the pressure on the Bear defense thanks to speedy Ashanti Stewart, but came up short 2-0 on Thursday night at Bartram Trail High.Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

“I thought the girls played hard,” said Forest coach Expo Marquis, whose team trailed just 1-0 with 13 minutes left. “It was a good season for us. (Bartram) has a good team. They have good speed and they win the ball.”

The loss was the fifth straight in the regional playoffs for Forest and second to the Bears (24-0-3) during that span dating back to 2002.

Bartram Trail, winners of four consecutive opening round playoff matches, jumped ahead in the 27th minute on a goal by Pam Carey, just two minutes after Stewart nearly scored on a breakaway.

Forest, which got its first shot at the nine-minute mark, kept battling and Stewart’s speed made the difference as the Bears had a hard time keeping up with her.

The junior nearly tied the match, but her shot eight minutes into the second half sailed just wide and the Bears kept their lead.

From there, Forest’s Kaylin Yancey was wide on a direct kick and Bartram Trail added another goal in the 67th minute to close out the scoring.

With the win, the Bears advance to the regional semifinals and will face the winner between Orange Park Fleming Island and Gainesville Eastside on Tuesday night.

The Wildcats, back in the regional playoffs after a year absence, played without Lauren Raetz, one of the their top scorers.

Still the effort was there, but the result wasn’t as Bartram Trail did what it needed to do in order to win.

“We know that we have to be stronger next year,” Marquis said. “We’re moving up to (Class) 6A next year and we know that is going to be tough. Still, we have some very good young players.

“To me, this was a good season. We went through the season undefeated in the district (until the finals) and had some bad luck in the end.”