Prep Report: Baker girls pin shutout on Cypress
When the Ida Baker Bulldogs and Cypress Lake Panthers met in a girls’ high school soccer preseason scrimmage, the action got physical, to put it mildly.
The heated confrontation forced Thursday’s regular-season encounter to be played with an extra official.
This time, though, the match took on a much slower pace. The Bulldogs played better in spurts to earn a 3-0 win.
“Slow game,” Baker coach Dave Trepkowski said. “The refs called everything both ways and it really slowed down the tempo, but I’d rather have it this way. The safety of the players is the No. 1 priority.”
Sophomore midfielder Payton Van Horn scored on a header just two minutes into the first half to put the Bulldogs in front 1-0. They added a second goal three minutes into the second half when sophomore Jordan Goffar finished off an assist from Van Horn.
Sophomore Emily Gibson tacked on the final Baker goal with less than two minutes remaining.
Baker goalkeeper Natalia Ortiz made five saves to record the shutout. She didn’t face much pressure with Ali Hare, Sami Fisher, Samantha Dalzotto and Rachael Swisher playing strong defense in front.
Trepkowski said the Panthers moved some of their more skilled players to the back to try and offset the Bulldogs’ speed up front, but the Bulldogs made constant substitutions and appeared to have the advantage in depth.
Both the Bulldogs (6-0) and Panthers (2-2-1) entered this season figuring to be strong contenders in the new District 4A-11. They each played short-handed Thursday with players missing from cross country – both schools qualified for state – and a competitive soccer showcase event in North Carolina.
“This is a no-excuse team this year,” Trepkowski responded. “Whoever is here we play as a team and work as a team.”
At the start of the match, sophomore Brittney Herrera and freshman Monique Elliott used their speed to track down a lot of balls in the Baker offensive zone. That led to some scoring chances.
Just two minutes in, Herrera struck a corner kick with her left foot, sending it toward the center, and Van Horn sent a header to the right side of the net.
The Panthers’ most serious threat of the match came about 15 minutes into the first half. They struck a high drive, but Ortiz managed to jump and tip the ball off the crossbar.
The Bulldogs controlled play with their passing in the second half.
They made the score 2-0 with 37 minutes left when Van Horn sent a lead pass to Goffar, who slid the ball past Cypress goalkeeper Allison Whitehead.
Though it didn’t lead to a goal, the Bulldogs came back about four minutes later with an entertaining display of passing. Van Horn, Goffar and Elliott each touched the ball, setting up a shot for Van Horn from close range.
Van Horn said the Bulldogs had their moments, but added they have a lot of room for improvement, particularly in communication.
“We have to come together as a team more and talk more,” she said.
The Bulldogs play three games – against Port Charlotte, Charlotte and Hardee County – in the Mariner Invitational Saturday.
Cape Coral 2, South Fort Myers 0: Juniors Christina Hunt and Danielle Kamanski tallied goals to carry Cape Coral to victory over South Fort Myers.
Seahawks goalkeeper Amanda Kopale made 10 saves.
Cape (4-1-1) hosts Port Charlotte on Monday.
Bishop Verot 8, Island Coast 0: Bishop Verot ran its record to 7-1 with a shutout victory over Island Coast.
Stephanie Zavada scored two goals while Melissa Peterson, Taylor Puls, Lauren Cento, Kiran Sharma, Sophia Quinonez and Kelly Williamson each added one goal. Peterson also had three assists, Puls had two with Cento and Williamson credited with one apiece.
The Vikings enjoyed a 20-1 advantage in shots on goal with goalkeeper Cailyn Rizzo making one save to record the shutout.
The Vikings host North Fort Myers and Island Coast (0-5) hosts Cypress lake on Monday.
Boys Soccer
Ida Baker 3, Cypress Lake 1: Nick Presti scored two goals and Brandon Stevens added one, sending visiting Baker past Cypress Lake.
Daniel Sharkey, Harvey Rincon and Lando Krumsick recorded assists. Goalkeeper Louis Schlichenmeyer made seven saves for the Bulldogs (3-1-1).
Cape Coral 4, South Fort Myers 3: The Cape Coral Seahawks bounced back from their first loss of the season with a late district win at South Fort Myers.
Guillermo Duque scored his second goal on a penalty shot with five minutes left putting the Seahawks (5-1, 2-1) ahead for good.
Caio Amaral also had two goals, and Santi Villamil made five saves.
Girls Basketball
Ida Baker 63, East Lee 42: Shanelly Brown scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, lifting the host Bulldogs to a season-opening victory.
Brown sank three three-pointers and freshman Hannah Del Negro knocked down a pair to finish with 11 points.
The Bulldogs continue their season Tuesday at Island Coast.
East Lee County 8 9 6 19 – 42
Ida Baker 18 18 14 13 – 63
East Lee (42) – Felix 11, Mungin 7, Bard 6, Latham 2, Esparaza 13, Love 3, Dunn 1. 3-point goals: Esparaza 2, Mungin 1. Scoring: 14 11-24 42.
Ida Baker (63) – Jackie Sanchez 2, Miko Dougherty 4, Hannah Del Negro 11, Alicia Emmons 9, Paige DeRouin 2, Brenna Hambsch 2, Shanelly Brown 23, Ali Nicoly 5, Sarah West 6. 3-point goals: Brown 3, Del Negro 2. Scoring: 23 12-37 63.
Volleyball
Accolades: Bishop Verot senior Katie Mosher has received the state AVCA Player of the Week award for Nov. 8-15.
Mosher, a libero, had 27 digs and four aces last Tuesday, helping the Vikings sweep DeSoto County in the Region 3-3A semifinal. She continued her stellar play in Saturday’s regional final, though the Vikings (27-1) finished their season in a loss to Tampa Berkeley Prep.
Mosher signed a volleyball scholarship with Florida State University last Wednesday.
In addition, Mosher has landed a spot on the FACA All-Star Team. The state showcase match takes place Dec. 5 in New Port Richey.
Sports editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.