Bartow soccer upsets Lake Gibson in district semifinals
For the first time in Richard Saunders coaching tenure, his Bartow Yellow Jackets boys soccer team won a Class 6A, District 6 semifinal game by way of penalty kicks.
Following a double overtime and a double penalty kick game, the Yellow Jackets pulled it out after goalkeeper Gideon Campbell blocked a Lake Gibson Sebastian Martinez Guadarrama penalty kick. Bartow’s Tristian Fabilia scored the previous penalty kick, helping the Yellow Jackets outlast the Braves 1-0 in penalty kicks. The regulation score was 1-1.
With the victory, No. 4 seed Bartow will take on No. 2 George Jenkins at 7 p.m. on Thursday at George Jenkins High School.
“Anytime we go with Lake Gibson it’s going to be a tight game. It comes down to something as small as this in the difference between us and them,” Saunders said. “They're an awesome team. They're a great team. They push us to our max every time. And we push them to their max every now and then. They’re a great team.”
The effort gave Bartow a chance to win the district finals — something that hasn’t been done since Saunders has been the head coach.
To put Bartow in this situation, it took a Chance Campbell goal late in the second half, which tied the game up at 1, eventually forcing the overtime. It was quite a feat for Bartow to score on Lake Gibson keeper Dalton Houser, who is a player Bartow was concerned about heading into the game.
“He’s an awesome player. They have a lot of great players,” Saunders said.
While Lake Gibson outhustled Bartow, midfielders Barrett Saunders and Chito Cortez-Ovando mustered up any energy they could to give Bartow’s offense a chance. Cortez-Ovando did have some cramps during the game and battled through as best as he could.
Lake Gibson coach Sage Baker said his team surprisingly squandered too many opportunities.
“As far as the game went, I felt very good about the way we played,” Baker said. “We knew the style that Bartow plays, and I thought we adjusted to it pretty well. I thought most of the chances went our way. We were unlucky on a few. Always thought we were going to get that second goal. And then when it went to penalties, I was still very confident we have a strong goalie to take penalties. And then, it’s just kind of a coin toss at that point. They kind of won that. … It was just chances missed.”
The one opportunity Lake Gibson seized, though, was a Sebastian Esteva goal early in the second half from a direct free kick.
Lake Gibson isn’t done yet, as the No. 1 seed will gear up for regionals against an opponent yet to be determined.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow soccer upsets Lake Gibson in district semifinals
