Ridge comes up short against East Ridge

DAVENPORT – When Noemi Casique scores, most teams usually stumble against Ridge Community. East Ridge isn’t most teams. 

Mireya Zepeda and Alanis Melgar scored second-half goals Friday to propel the East Ridge Knights past the Bolts 2-1 in the Class 7A, Region 2 girls soccer semifinals. 

Both teams set school history by reaching the region semifinals for the first time. The Knights (22-1-2) play the Tampa Plant-Palm Harbor University winner in the region final. East Ridge would likely host either team. Ridge Community (17-5-1) reached the regional semifinal after first-round losses in 2014 and 2020. 

The Bolts rallied from two goals down on Tuesday to beat West Orange 3-2 for their first region-quarterfinal victory in school history. 

Casique put the Bolts up 1-0 with 3:17 left in the first half. She collected a rebound off a corner kick, then buried it in the low left corner. East Ridge coach Leon Florez acknowledged that his players thought the game was over at that point. 

“We had seven or eight corners in the first half in addition to multiple long throws,” Bolts coach Nicholas Nixon said. “That’s one of our weapons. We’re fortunate the ball bounced her way. She was at the top of the box. She was able to knock it low into the corner.” 

Casique, Ridge Community had several more chances to add to the lead. Three minutes before Casique’s goal, the Bolts caught a break when starting East Ridge goalkeeper Caleigh Fischer beat Ridge midfielder Jamie White to the ball, but collected it just outside the penalty area. That drew Fischer a blue-card ejection. But Casique sent the free kick high. 

Casique tested backup keeper Kayden Page a few minutes later, forcing her to make a save on a 40-yard free kick, then another save off the rebound. 

“I give East Ridge all the credit,” Nixon said. “They were down to 9 men by the end of the game. They were 10 men for 50 minutes. The first half we should’ve scored more. Up 1-0 was good. Second half they were without their high-scoring forwards. (Zepeda) is their best player. They played the ball on the wings to her and exposed us.” 

Fischer made two saves, while Page made four saves. 

But it was Ridge Community that was victimized by the rally. East Ridge started to solve Ridge Community’s defense in the second half. Ridge had played more toward the middle to slow down East Ridge’s direct attacks. But the Knights sent a few more players forward, putting the defense at risk. 

That risk was rewarded when Zepeda collected a pass in the East Ridge midfield, ran up the right sideline into the Ridge Community box. She then shook off a defender, then fired into the top right corner for a 1-1 tie with 30:54 left. 

“We just told ourselves that we need to work hard, and that this is the only time we’re going to get this,” Zepeda said. “We started to connect more passes, have more through balls up top. That’s what helped us.” 

Despite East Ridge losing Andrea Moses to ejection after two yellows, the Knights began to dominate the midfield in the second half. Melgar made it 2-1 Knights with 13:52 left. 

Juliana McGuire kept the ball near the Ridge Community penalty box, centering to Zepeda. She sent a pass left to Melgar, who beat keeper Rena Neal to the right. 

“Big players step up in big games. Mireya Zepeda stepped up tonight. It’s all about doing it together. We cannot win if we do not do it together. It’s all about team chemistry, it’s all about togetherness and it’s all about leaving it all on the field.” 

While East Ridge continues setting school history, the Bolts can revel in a senior class that won 70 matches – the most of a senior class in school history. 

However, losing three seniors means nearly everyone else returns. Nixon challenged the returnees to be ready to go. 

“As good as we felt on Tuesday coming back from two goals down to win, it’s as bad as we feel now. That’s why you play sports. It’s about emotion. It’s about winning and losing. You learn a lot from it. Hopefully the girls carry us forward a bit and think about it and mentally and physically prepare themselves to play again next year. We want to be right back where we are.”