Indian Ridge rules in Broward County middle school girls soccer
In the kingdom of middle school girls soccer in Broward County, there was only one supreme ruler in the sport and that came out of Indian Ridge.
The Davie-based Jaguars put the exclamation point to a perfect season with a 2-1 (4-3 in penalty kicks) shootout victory over Tequesta Trace at Western High School. It was the second title in as many seasons, and third in the last four years, for Indian Ridge.
Indian Ridge downed Falcon Cove (Weston) in the county quarterfinals and then bested Lyons Creek (Coconut Creek) in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. Tequesta Trace reached the finals by defeating Pembroke Pines Charter and Coral Springs Middle School.
And for the first time ever, the county also held a charter school championship game and in that historic showdown the Franklin Academy (Pembroke Pines K-8 campus) Bulldogs downed the Franklin Academy (Sunrise campus) Chargers, 2-1.
Team captain Isabella Gonzalez and Jazmin Herrera each scored for the Bulldogs, while another captain, Erica Gouldthorpe, anchored the backline and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Mia Zamorano tallied the lone goal for the Chargers in a losing effort.
Indian Ridge’s Sydney Ford helped drive the undefeated Jaguars to the title by scoring what proved to be the decisive goal and, as the keeper, she saved two penalty kicks in the shootout.
Indian Ridge (8-0) has won 12 straight games dating back to last season when the school topped Westglades for the third county championship in school history.
“This was the first time I played goalie in a game,” said the 14-year-old Ford, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for her efforts. “We practiced [for the shootout], but it is a lot of pressure. That second save ... I had to dive for it, but it still feels great to end middle school with a win. All I was thinking was I had to make the save.” — Mia Young, Indian Ridge Middle School
In addition to Ford, fellow eighth-graders Mia Young, Naiya Rampat and Leena Rigby also converted their penalty kicks. Eighthgraders Jada Avick, Barbara Garcia-Padilla and seventhgrader Melanie Salazar eighth-grader
made the kicks for the Cougars in the shootout.
“There was a lot of pressure to go back-to-back and finish undefeated,” said Young, 13. “It’s amazing. It is not even about the games. It is about playing with your team and doing something special with them. Going undefeated in my last year at the school was great.”
Indian Ridge started fast with a goal in the game’s fourth minute off a 35-yard free kick by Young for a 1-0 lead.
Tequesta Trace, which suffered its first loss after entering the game at 8-0-1, knotted things at 1-1 on a rebound goal by eighth-grader Christina Cuadrado. Cougars eighth-grader Maddy Brouse took a shot from distance on a free kick, which bounced off a Jaguars defender to Cuadrado.
The only other blemish on the Cougars record was a 0-0 tie with Pioneer Middle School in the fifth game of the season.
When the game went to penalty kicks, Indian Ridge coach Daniel Gurtov switched starting eighth-grade goalkeeper Keirra McNichol with Ford because of her experience.
Tequesta Trace eighthgrader Barbara GarciaPadilla helped the Cougars reach the final after moving to Weston from Venezuela this year.
“It gives me motivation and it is basically my life,” Garcia-Padilla said through an interpreter who just happened to be teammate and fellow eighth-grader Ana Rosiles. “I am a little sad, but happy how I played. [This shows] you have to keep fighting and be persistent in order to reach your goals.”
Second-year Cougars coach Bob Rouse, whose team dropped a 2-0 decision to Indian Ridge in the county semifinals last year, believed his team would avenge that defeat.
“I thought it was our turn this time,” Rouse said. “I think there should be an overtime in the finals [before penalty kicks]. I felt we outplayed them during regulation time, so it would have been nice to go to overtime.”
Sportscom5@aol.com