LAKEWOOD RANCH
The Out-of-Door Academy girls soccer team bombarded Imagine School of North Port with 37 shots at Thunder Stadium on Tuesday night.
As you can imagine, that made life extra difficult for the Sharks (7-6-2) in their Class 1A-District 7 semifinal match against the defending district champion Thunder (15-2-2).
ODA found the back of the net six times to cruise to a 6-0 victory over the Sharks.
The Thunder will face Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School on Friday night in search of their fourth straight district crown.
“We got the job done and we’re playing Friday,” veteran Thunder coach Bill Unzicker said. “We’re very motivated and it’s nice to be playing at home. We want that championship trophy back.”
Senior Katherine Pacitti scored first for ODA on a rebound of her own missed shot with 33:02 still to play in the first half. Freshman Mackenzie Dove also scored a rebound goal 13 minutes later. Pacitti scored again to give the Thunder a comfortable 3-0 lead at the intermission.
All those shots by ODA put tons of pressure on Imagine goalkeeper Adrianna Al-Amasi, who is only in the eighth grade. Al-Amasi responded with 21 saves.
“Their goalkeeper was the player of the match,” Unzicker said. “She kept them in it. She read the angles very well.”
Natalie Gorji, Chris Lutton and Madisyn Opstal scored goals for the Thunder in the second half.
Imagine School managed just one shot during the match.
ODA defeated Saint Stephen’s 5-0 and 2-0 during the regular season.
“It’s always difficult when you’re playing a team for the third time,” Unzicker said. “Both teams will make adjustments. They will offer us a challenge.”
SAINT STEPHEN'S 5, BRADENTON CHRISTIAN 0
The Falcons’ district semifinal victory over BCS was essentially a carbon copy of ODA’s win over the Sharks.
Saint Stephen’s (10-3-2) launched 26 shots against the Panthers (3-6-1), who only took one shot.
The Falcons’ best defense was their relentlessly attacking offense.
“We made a few changes tactically,” Saint Stephen’s coach Andrew Sopher said. “We wanted to come out and dictate the play right from the beginning. We wanted to keep attacking and maintain possession. We were very successful with that tonight.
“We broke them down. They were tired because we had possession the whole game.”
Sixth-grader Kaleigh Hart scored on the first shot of the match with less than four minutes gone in the first half. Junior Ayla Johnston dribbled herself into position to score on a left-footed kick later in the first period for a 2-0 halftime lead.
Senior Falcon Katie Pierce scored two goals in the second period and freshman Elle Johnston added another to produce the final score.
BCS goalkeeper Josie Smith recorded 15 saves.
The Falcons hope the third time will be the charm against the Thunder.
“It’s always a great opportunity to play against ODA,” Sopher said. “They are a good team and they are well-coached. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”