By Manuel Tunez
On a cold Friday night in Gainesville, the Buchholz girls soccer team welcomed Fletcher (Neptune Beach) for a Class 6A-Region 1 Semifinal.
The Bobcats lost 4-0 against a perfect performance by the Senators. This game meant a place in the regional final.
“They want it as bad as we do,” Buchholz coach Bryan Hantak said before the game, making clear that both teams were going with everything.
The game was very close during the first 19 minutes as each team’s defense did not allow any shot on target. After the hydration pause on the 20th minute, the Fletcher girls took control of the game.
Mimi Fisher, the Bobcats’ keeper, witnessed the first goal by the boot of Angelina Madera in the 25th minute. The visitors dominated the rest of the first half.
The half-time served as fuel for what was coming in the second period of the game as both coaches’ speeches were good enough to make a very candent game on a pretty cold night.
The second half started, and just as in the first, the Lady Senators were winning every play. At the minute 49′ from a corner, the head of Avery Langlois found the net, putting them up 2-0.
The following 11 minutes were not easy for Fisher, who stopped three shots by the Senators’ top scorer, Sarah Christensen.
During the 65th minute Fletcher sophomore Allison Aquino scored the third goal for her team.
Four minutes later, the star of the night, Madera, put the second on her record for the night, leaving the Bobcats out of the competition.
“It took us a little while to adjust to their game plan,” said Fletcher coach Bradley Plummer. “Once we found the space on the field, that is what changed the game for us. I am proud of my girls, how they adjusted every condition, and we played a wonderful second half.”
The Bobcats fought until the end.
“I give my heads up to Buchholz,” Plummer added. “They played hard. It’s a greedy team that didn’t stop fighting no matter the score.”
Madera was the best player of the night with two goals and many sprints, as she was able to break Buchholz’s defense that was concentrated on stopping Christensen.
But she praised her teammates by saying, “that only happened because our team played together, it was a little rough, but the team played together.”
Joking, she said about the Buchholz defense, “I was not that good, at least not enough for me”.
Bobcats’ captain Jordan Pfaff left the game with a knee injury, while Skyler Felenz missed today’s game due to an injury.
Fletcher (15-5-2) advances to Tuesday’s region final against the winner of Saturday night’s Ponte Vedra-Fleming Island match, while Buchholz’s season ends at 15-4-2.
