Lady Mustangs cruise to regional berth

The No. 1 seed Lakewood Ranch High girls soccer team defeated No. 4 seed North Port 5-1 in a Class 4A-District 11 semifinal match Jan. 15.

Senior forward Delaney Riggins scored the first goal of the night eight minutes into the first half off a cross from sophomore midfielder Julia Ortiz.

Senior defender Lindsay Martinez extended the Lady Mustangs lead later in the 25th minute when she converted a penalty kick, giving Lakewood a 2-0 lead.

Junior forward Talia Falco scored the next two goals. Freshman Caroline Nordhausen rounded out the scoring for Lakewood, when she notched her first varsity goal in the final two minutes of the match.

“This is the game you’ve got to watch out for,” coach Guy Virgilio says of the semifinals. “If you have a bad game, you want it to be the next one because if you lose this one then you’re gone.”

Win the win, Lakewood, the winners of 19 straight, earned a berth in the regional tournament. The Lady Mustangs also will play host to district rival Braden River for the district championship Jan. 17.
Lakewood tied Braden River 0-0 in the first match of the season and edged the Lady Pirates 1-0 in their second meeting.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].