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Girls soccer: Sunlake passes test; Land O'Lakes cruises

 
Published Jan. 14, 2016

HUDSON — Land O'Lakes and Sunlake will square off for the Class 3A, District 8 title on Friday after their semifinal victories at Fivay on Wednesday night. The Seahawks were 5-3 winners over Hudson, and the Gators won 8-0 over River Ridge.

The early matchup saw Sunlake (13-5-2) roar out to a 4-0 lead only to escape with a win as Hudson scored three unanswered. The Cobras (7-8-2) were playing without their two best goal-scoring threats in Cassidy Rux and Alexa Gernand. They fell behind early as Abby Morken and Jeanine Sullivan scored in the first 12 minutes. Just a minute later, Kaci Landry had an empty net after blocking Hudson keeper Allison Linderman's clear out but missed wide. Not a full minute after that, Landry had her shot at redemption as she got on the end of a corner kick and banged it home.

"After that first one I was mad at myself; it was an easy shot," Landry said. "But when that next ball came to me, I thought that's why the ball has come to me and to just shoot it."

The Cobras came storming back with a goal just before half and another in the first minute by Nicole Staley and Devyn Cabral, respectively. The Cobras closed to within one when Cabral scored again on a breakaway with 29 minutes left in the second half. The Seahawks held, getting gritty effort from Morken and the Cobras got a great second-half effort from Linderman (five saves).

"(Linderman) settled in and made some big plays in the second half," Hudson coach Stephen Jones said. "This game was a microcosm of our season, having to respond and I'm proud of the way they did it. When we walked off after the first half, none of the girls walked off like it was over."

The Gators (18-2) took on the Royal Knights (8-4-2) in the nightcap. It's no secret that the Gators have been banged up this year. Even with star forward Tori Cannata, defender Maci Galan and Samantha Epifanio dressed, all three sat out as their replacements and USF commit Sydny Nasello tore apart the River Ridge defense. Daniella Vasquez and Haley Eckel had great starts before subbing out and rotating position as the Gators turned the match into a rout. Savanna Ronk scored first, then Nasello scored the next four goals, her second on a great juke that gave her an empty net.

In the second half, Brooke Hannigan scored off a Lacy Nasello free kick. Ronk scored her second, then Lacy Nasello put the exclamation point on the match to make it 8-0.

"We've played well all year with multiple combinations of players, everyone has contributed," Gators coach Vicky King said.