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Bolts blank Blue Streaks

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

Ridge Community's Jenna Carey (3) corrals a ball in front of the Sebring goal as Blue Streak Heather Bloesma (19) closes in during the second half of Thursday night's Class 5A-District 5 match at Firemen's Field.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 7, 2009

SEBRING - With six freshmen on the field at the same time in the second half of Thursday night's match, the Sebring girls soccer team had a glimpse of a promising future.

The Blue Streaks moved the ball effectively and used their speed on the wings to pressure the Ridge Community goalie, but it came too late to prevent a 3-0 loss to the Bolts in a Class 5A-District 5 match at Firemen's Field.

The loss dropped the youthful Blue Streaks to 0-2, while the Bolts evened their record at 1-1.

"The girls gave a real good effort and we had our moments," said veteran Sebring coach Steve Ashley. "Ridge is a good team and kept the ball moving with a lot of one-touch passes and that's what we want to do as the season progresses.

"We're a very young team and our inexperience showed with the six freshmen on the field in the second half, but the only way they're going to learn and improve is by playing."

Ridge Community, which has four seniors in its starting lineup, dominated play from the opening whistle as forward Maite Calixte used her excellent footwork and deft passing to keep the pressure on the Blue Streaks defense.

The Bolts got on the scoreboard as Calixte took a nice pass from Jenna Carey and lofted a shot from just inside the 18-yard box that found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the match.

Calixte struck again just before the half as she corralled a loose ball off a corner kick and rifled it into the bottom-right corner, past Blue Streaks keeper Misha Hahn, to give Ridge Community a 2-0 lead.

"We did a lot of ball-chasing and we've got to do a better job of marking on defense," said Ashley. "The girls are working hard to learn the varsity game and we were missing a couple of players who would have helped, but we have to be quicker to the ball on defense.

"We're especially young in the back and we're going to make mistakes, but we'll live with it and strive to improve."

Sebring came out with a lot of intensity in the second half and the Blue Streaks, who finished with six shots on goal, had several excellent scoring opportunities go awry.

Ridge Community, which had 12 shots, sealed the district victory as midfielder Claudia Garcia took a through ball from Kailyn Green and ricocheted a shot off the left post for a commanding 3-0 lead with 23:29 remaining in the district contest.

Sebring moved the ball well the remainder of the match, but the Bolts' defense was up to the challenge and kept the shutout intact.

"We lost our composure a little bit late in the second half," the Blue Streaks skipper said. "But I'm proud of the girls because they never quit and played hard the entire match.

"The girls have a lot of talent and we just need to be a little quicker with our touches and keep working hard and we'll be fine."

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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