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Girls soccer: Holy Names 3, Land O'Lakes 0

 
The Land Oâ₉„¢Lakes varsity girls soccer team warms up before a soccer match against Academy of the Holy Names at Academy of the Holy Names High School in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015.
The Land Oâ₉„¢Lakes varsity girls soccer team warms up before a soccer match against Academy of the Holy Names at Academy of the Holy Names High School in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015.
Published Dec. 2, 2015

TAMPA — Land O'Lakes entered Tuesday night's match against Academy of the Holy Names with a spotless record and a sparkling three goals allowed on the season. But by the time the final whistle blew, that number had doubled and the perfect record was gone.

Julia Lester struck twice and the Jaguars scored two goals a minute apart in the first half to remain undefeated with a convincing 3-0 defeat of the visiting Gators.

"We knew coming in that Land O'Lakes was a great team," Lester said. "But coach kept telling us to take it game by game and we'd be fine."

The Jaguars (10-0) shut down a potent Gators (11-1) attack that came in averaging just over six goals per match. With the shutout, AHN has now given up just one goal in the last six outings.

"We wanted to shut down their play into the middle going forward and keep them off the ball as much as possible," AHN coach Kareem Escayg said. "We knew once we did that we'd have a bit of space through the middle and as long as we kept the ball moving, on the ground, we'd have a fighting chance."

Ashley Dingle delivered a corner kick to the head of Lester in the 13th minute and the UF commit buried it for a 1-0 lead. One minute later, Dingle floated a ball from the corner of the 18-yard box that just tucked in under the crossbar to make it 2-0.

"Their center defender wasn't really looking and I saw that and snuck in there," Lester said. "Ashley hit a perfect ball."

Lester put the exclamation point on the match in the 54th minute. She took a pass about 35 yards out and split a pair of defenders, just crossing into the 18-yard box before firing a laser past the keeper.

Meanwhile the Jaguars defense was compact and stout, limiting the Gators' speedy attack. Tori Cannata's looper went high in the 44th minute and Kendall Catone made a diving stop to turn away Sydny Nasello in the 68th.