Trinity Prep Kicks It Past Resilient Lake Placid

All season long, Lake Placid girls soccer coach John Merlo thought his team was a few minutes away from playing at its highest level for a complete game.

Going all-out for 80 minutes isn't something accomplished overnight, but all year long, Merlo thought the Dragons were getting closer.

"I talked with my assistant coaches about being a few minutes short all season," Merlo said after his Dragons played the District 7-champion Trinity Prep tough before falling 4-0 in a regional quarterfinal match on Thursday night. "Our defense was outstanding and we were physical and fast, and I don't think Trinity was used to the combination of both.

"They were very frustrated when they couldn't break our front line at first."

The Saints, who knocked off defending state champion and arch rival Lake Highland Prep in their district final, scored in the 25th minute but couldn't get another past LP sophomore keeper Sarah Thompson (who finished with 10 saves) until the 55th minute. During that time, the Dragons had their chances, including two direct kicks that Merlo said could've turned into goals.

"We had two opportunities on direct kicks by senior Erica Resendiz, but we didn't finish well," Merlo said. "On another direct kick, the rebound looked like it went in but the ref blew the whistle because the goalie was on the ground with the ball getting kicked by both teams.

"Our girls said the goal didn't cross the line, but it was a free-for-all for a second there."

The Dragons had two corner kicks in the second half that couldn't be brought to fruition, and after the Saints booted one in 15 minutes into the second half, Merlo moved his speedy defenders up front and brought in some reserves to experience the team's second straight regional semifinal game.

"They got a couple sloppy scoring opportunities after the second water break," Merlo said. "But I was really happy with our effort all night. The effort was there, we just didn't get the result we would've liked."

LP, which finished the season at 11-3-1, will graduate six seniors (four starters) next season, but Merlo likes the direction his team is heading after one year at the helm.

"The girls told me last year they came to regionals feeling like they'd gotten as far as they'd get," Merlo said. "But this year, they felt the whole time like they could play with anybody, and it showed for the first 55 minutes of the game.

"We were on it, we just ran out of gas."

Merlo said he's expecting big things out of his team next season.

"We had three freshmen starting this year, so we think we should be pretty strong," Merlo said. "And a whole year of getting used to my conditioning, with the way we want to play, we're only going to get better."