George Jenkins girls upset Ridge, will face LCS in Champions title match
LAKELAND — Since the start of girls soccer until recent years, George Jenkins consistently could stake the claim as the best team in the county and was often making a run at a state title.
In recent years, the Eagles have taken a back seat to Lakeland Christian along with other programs like Lake Wales, Ridge Community and McKeel.
Jenkins now has the chance to reclaim its spot as the couny's top team after upsetting previously undefeated Ridge Community, 3-2, on Friday night in the Champions bracket semifinals of the Polk County girls soccer tournament. The Eagles outscored the Bolts, 5-3, on penalty kicks.
"I am ecstatic," Jenkins coach Jake Maloney said. "They seem to rise to the occasion every time we play a good team. It's incredible watching them. They make me look good as a coach. They do everything that I want and more."
George Jenkins (11-3-2), which was 1-5-1 in its last seven meetings against Ridge (14-1-3), will now play Lakeland Christian (13-2-2) in the championship match on Friday at the Lake Myrtle ports Complex. LCS is 5-0-1 since 2012 against Jenkins. The Eagles' victory avenges a 3-1 loss to Ridge in season opener.
"When I was in high school, George Jenkins girls soccer was the pinnacle of soccer in Central Florida and in Florida in general," Maloney said. "I want it to get back to that."
In the penalty-kick shootout, Jenkins got goals from Jenna Daniel, McKenna Kham, Sienna Ferry, Georgiana Strawbridge and Ashley Cunningham.
Ridge got goals from Olivia Nixon, Noemi Casique and Jamie White.
Jenkins goalkeeper Ashlyn Maslyn had the only save in the shootout as she made a diving stop on the Bolts' fourth attempt.
Jenkins had Ridge playing catch-up for good portions of the game. Daniel gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick in the seventh minute.
Nearly 10 minutes later, Ridge's Brianna Brudy tied the score off a corner kick. The Bolts seemed poised to take the lead at it started to put consistent pressure on the Eagles.
Maslyn came up with six saves in the game, and the Eagles defense, led by Cunningham at center back, prevented the speedy Bolts from getting breakaways and many clean shots.
Strawbridge gave Jenkins a 2-1 halftime lead with a brilliant move and shot with about 1.6 seconds left in the first half.
White, off a feed from Brudy, scored the second half.
Lakeland Christian shuts out McKeel
Lakeland Christian is battling more injuries at the moment, missing one of its top offensive players along with its best defensive player, but prevailed over McKeel, 2-0, in the first of Friday's semifinals matches.
"It was a good win," LCS coach Jason Streets said. "We've taken a couple of injuries last week, and we've been moving (players) around. ... We're trying different things to see what will work."
Already without top returning scorer Maddie Lopez, who is out for the season, the Vikings sat junior midfielder Carly Sabat and center back Gretchen Caswell. Both were injured last weekend.
Sabat, who is tied for the team lead with six goals and leads with 21 points, could have played but the the Vikings are being extra cautious with the district tournament and postseason coming up soon. Caswell is likely out through the playoffs.
The Vikings, however, still have their best position player in sophomore KJ Straub. She began the game playing center back to help make sure LCS didn't give up anything early. She then was moved into an offensive role.
Ava Wood and Marianna Carr had chances for LCS in the first half, but score remained tied.
LCS finally struck shortly after the second-half water break. Straubt set up Kaelyn Diaz on a give-and-go, who fired a shot at the goalkeeper, who could not handle the shot.
Destinee Carroll, who had moved to center back when Straub went on offense, was back up top and scored a late goal against her former teammates.
LCS goalkeeper Breanna Newberg made a couple of strong saves that kept McKeel off the scoreboard.
"When we play McKeel, it's always a fun rivalry," Streets said. "It's not physical, it's a great game. Both teams are very good, and anything can happen."
Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: George Jenkins girls upset Ridge, will face LCS in Champions title match
