LCS crushes Bolles in 3A state semifinals

LAKELAND — Lakeland Christian's loss to Jacksonville Bolles in the state semifinals last left a stinging impression. The Vikings have been waiting for the chance to avenge that loss.

One they had that chance, they played with a vengeance.

Lakeland Christian scored three times in the first 15 minutes to overwhelm Bolles for a 5-1 victory on Friday night in the Class 3A girls soccer semifinals at Viking Stadium.

"I can't put it into words," LCS senior defender Eden Guynn said. "It's such a blessing. I know how bad these girls wanted it, including me. Winning this game means more than anything. I've got chills right now."

Now there's one more match to finish the mission.

The Vikings will play Plantation American Heritage at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the championship match.

The one-sided win against the defending 3A state champions wasn't expected, although Guynn said she had a good feeling about the game.

"It depended on how well we executed this game, and I think we did it perfectly," Guynn said. "This was one of the best games we've ever played."

Lakeland Christian head coach Jason Streets certainly didn't think Bolles would allow five goals.

"Never in a million years, never in a million years," he said. "I had a good feeling today. We've been on a good roll, and we're just so focused. To be honest, it was 5-1, but they had chances. It wasn't like we were that dominant. We just finished our chances."

The Vikings, however, had the best early chances. They created opportunities, finished them and didn't let an offsides call that took an early goal of the board slow them down.

Maddie Lopez and Carly Sabot scored twice, and Katie Carnes added a goal.

"I just think we've got a quick offense, and we complete each other," Lopez said. "We know that once one of us gets the ball, we know the other one's moves and we can work off each other. We know each other's strengths so we can play it to our advantage." 

The first goal came in the sixth minute and was started by defender Eden Guynn, who stole the ball and punched it to midfield.

One pass later, Lopez turned on the jets and was racing down the left side, then fired a shot for the Vikings' 1-0 lead.

"I saw the keeper off her line and kept my head up and found the far post," Lopez said.

Two minutes later, LCS had goal waved off for offsides, but the Vikings got it back a short time later.

K.J. Straub, who has been a force in the midfield, ripped a shot from about 30 yards out that was blocked. The long rebound came to Carly Sabat, who finished.

Less than a minute later, a Bolles defender misplayed the ball that allowed Sabat to get around her, catch up to the loose ball and score her second goal.

Bolles had its chances, but the Vikings defense was tough. Breannna Newberg made several strong saves, including one off a corner kick.

"I thought Bre, after not having that much work the whole year, was remarkable," Streets said. "I thought she came up big. I thought Ramsey (Watkins) and Eden were special. They defended those girls so well."

Karis Gibson, Nicole Graubard and Katie Williams on the outside were also tenacious in frustrating Bolles' attackers.

Bolles had late chances on corner kicks in the final minute of the first half but came up empty to go into halftime trailing 3-0.

"Coming out and getting three goals before the water break was just remarkable," Streets said. "It was unique because at the first water break, they're just hugging and cheering. I pulled them out and said you have an hour left to play. This is a long game. Keep your focus."

If Bolles harbored hopes of a second half comeback, Carnes snuffed them out with a goal early in the half.

The teams then traded goals with Lopez grabbing her second goal of the game with just over 25 minutes to play.

"We had a lot of confidence coming into this game," Lopez said. "We knew what we could do, and the talent that they have and that we have too."