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They're baa-aaack!
The Gulf Breeze wind will be blowin' all the way to Fort Lauderdale this week as the Lady Dolphins beat Jacksonville Bishop Kenny 1-0 Friday to clinch their first state tournament berth in four years. Gulf Breeze will play Fort Myers Cypress Lake in the first of two semifinals Friday at 4 p.m. local time at Lockhart Stadium. Orlando Bishop Moore, who knocked out two-time defending state champions St. Augustine Nease in the regional semifinals, take on Rockledge in the other semifinals. The winners will meet for the 4A state championship Saturday at 1 p.m. The loss ended a Cinderellatype run for the Lady Crusaders, who entered postseason play on an eight-game losing streak and hadn't beaten a playoff-bound team during the regular season (0-8-1). Their tie was a 2-2 tie to rival Paxon, who they eventually beat to win their district. Gulf Breeze beat Paxon 2-0 in the regional semifinals, the second consecutive year Paxon has had its season end at Dolphin Stadium.
The one came off the foot of senior captain Kim Begley, whose high arcing shot seemed to go right through the hands of keeper Katie Borello in the 70th minute. "I wasn't even looking - I just shot it," said Begley, who leads the team with 23 goals. "It went in and that's all that matters." Gulf Breeze dictated the play from the start, as Majewski fed a ball up to Begley in the second minute, only for Borello to come off her line to get to the pass first. The Lady Crusaders appeared to have gotten away with a hand ball in the box in the third minute. Gulf Breeze had five corner kicks before the first half water break. Bishop Kenny's best scoring chances came off long throw ins. Both Anne Preston and Kathy Franklin had to come off their lines to punch out dangerous throws in the match.
Gulf Breeze finished the first half with five shots on goal, two from Lee at her defender spot. Maggie Rodgers was credited with the assist on Begley's goal. Lady Dolphins 2, Jacksonville Paxon 0 Rodgers scored in the first half, while Noelle Robles scored in the second half as Gulf Breeze beat Paxon in a Region 1-4A semifinal match on Jan. 30. Gulf Breeze seized momentum early, earning two corner kicks in the first 90 seconds of the match. The Lady Dolphins broke the stalemate in the 20th minute when Rodgers pushed one under the Paxon keeper. Jessica Majewski settled a long ball from Kristi Lee and fed Rodgers for the goal. Begley hit the post on a shot in the second half and Majewski fired a high arcing shot that required a tip save before Robles scored in the 61st minute. The goal was a rebound of an initial shot by Rodgers.
Riders near the storm - The Lady Dolphins didn't technically do like The Doors classic hit, but came closer than they cared to. The team caravaned to Jacksonville Thursday evening and encountered some of the outer bands of the weather that claimed nearly 20 lives in Central Florida. Scenes of cars - and in one case, an 18-wheeler - were seen hydroplaned off Interstate 10. "(Assistant coach) Rob (Simon) and I were the last ones there, which is what we always do in case a car breaks down, we can at least pick up the kids," Miles said. Very superstitious - Some members of the Lady Dolphin soccer team followed in their predecessors footsteps in terms of where to eat while on the road. Kiel Gross, a member of four state tournament teams, along with her teammates ate at the Boston Market in Tallahassee on their way to state. So younger sister Haley, a freshman on the current squad, and others did the same. Bragging rights - The Lady Dolphins, after practice on Monday, took on the boys' team in friendly battle of penalty kicks. The boys won 14-10. Richard Benson had five saves, while Johnny Miller had four. Franklin and Preston both had two saves each. Change of plans - The Lady Dolphins had originally planned to leave for Fort Lauderdale Tuesday after the FCAT. But in case a player was sick Tuesday and had to retake it Wednesday, the team didn't leave until Wednesday afternoon. Their original plans had them staying in Orlando Tuesday night, with a light practice at Rollins College on Wednesday. The team will take in Niceville's state semifinal match with Palm Harbor University today. Pit stop - Since state law prohibits a bus driver from driving more than 10 hours in a day, the Lady Dolphins will have to stop in Marianna to pick up a second driver. More on Cypress Lake - Cypress Lake and Gulf Breeze both have something in common - neither can be accused of age discrimination. Cypress Lake's top two scorers - Sarah Yates (25 goals) and Desiree Meyer (24) are both freshman - while their third and fourth leading scorers - Jessica Minor (17) and Noelle Eppeleman (12) - are both sophomores. Cypress Lake (20-3-1) played only four regular season matches against teams that qualified for their respective regional tournaments. They went 1-2-1 in those matches. The one win was 3-0 over Naples, the team they only defeated 1-0 in the regional quarterfinals. Cypress Lake avenged a 3-2 regular season loss to Estero in the District 11 final (2-1) and the Region 2 final (7-2). Conversely, GBHS played nine regular season matches against regional qualifiers, going 4-2-3 in those matches. |
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