Girls soccer: Here's how All Saints rallied to win district title in OT
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LAKELAND — All Saints was the district champion last year and was favored when it met district runner-up Victory Christian in the regional playoffs. Victory, however, upset All Saints, and the Saints have been waiting nearly a year to avenge that loss.
The wait ended when All Saints rallied from a two-goal deficit in the second and tied the score in regulation before Anya Riskins goal in overtime gave the Saints a 4-3 victory in the championship if the Class 1A, District 6 girls soccer tournament.
“It feels really good,” Riskin said. “We got revenge.”
Riskin’s goal came in the first overtime period when she launched a shot from about 25 yards out that sailed over the goalkeeper’s hands and just under the cross bar.
“I knew we needed to score because it came down to the last few minutes, and I knew that,” Risking said. “I shot goals from that distance before. I knew that we only had a few minutes left, so I just went and took it and hoped for the best.”
Early in the second half, it wasn’t looking good for All Saints as Victory increased its 2-1 halftime lead to 3-1. Kaya Carll, who scored the first goal of the match, began dominating more in the midfield, which helped the Saints apply more and more pressure. That pressure paid off as seventh-grader Ava Trimm scored twice to tie the score.
“Our coach is motivating us and we have each other on our team,” Riskin said. “We have really good culture and a really good bond. The captains, me, Kaya (Carll) and Lizzie (Fischer), we were all kind of motivating the team to do our best. We just went 110 percent and it worked.”
All Saints has been short-handed all season because of injuries, including Aaliyah Rodriguez and Lyannie Navarro with ACL injuries. Trimm’s play has helped the the Saints overcome the injuries as she now has nine goals, which his second on the team behind Carll, who has 12.
“A lot of players have been stepping up big time,” All Saints coach Lucas Teixeira said. “We're a small school. Everyone's important to the team, so really proud to have those girls fighting to the end.”
All Saints also had been without Fischer for most of the season. She only recently returned and has helped solidify the defense at center back since her return.
“She's an impactful player, and she's playing so great right now,” All Saints coach Lucas Teixeira said. “This is a team win above all things.”
It was a disappointing loss for Victory Christian. After Carll gave All Saints the 1-0 lead just before the first half water break, the Storm scored three straight goals an appeared in control of the game. Sylvia Rodriguez, Kinley Hunter and Olivia Enechukwu scored.
However, the Storm couldn’t maintain the play that gave them the lead.
“We had a couple of kids who were giving max effort, and we had a couple of kids who kind of coasted,” first-year coach Grace Kelly said. “By the time it was time to get it back into gear. It was too late. It's disappointing for sure.”
Both coaches agreed that there was a great chance that the two teams will see each other again in the regional playoffs.”
6A-7: Lake Gibson falls in final
Valrico Bloomingdale came away as district champion by defeating Lake Gibson, 3-1, in the 6A-7 district championship game.
5A-7: Auburndale wins title
Auburndale and Innovation played to a scoreless tie at the end of regulation and the two overtime periods then outscored Innovation, 7-6, in the penalty kick shootout to capture the district title.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: All Saints, Auburndale win girls soccer district titles
