A year after Estero ended the Barron Collier girls’ soccer team’s season, the Cougars returned the favor.
Barron Collier scored a trio of goals in the first half and never looked back in a 3-0 shutout in the Class 4A-Region 3 Final on Feb 17 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1998.
“I’m excited beyond words,” Cougars head coach Aaron Thayer said. “At the beginning of the season, we had some goals in mind. Wasn’t sure how some of these new players were going to do, putting it all together, and we just kept believing in ourselves. And these ladies have just shown time and time again that they’re champions, and I’m super excited.”
The Wildcats swept the Cougars (18-3) in three meetings last season, including in the district championship game and regional semifinals.
Those losses were a source of motivation for Barron Collier.
“Last year, we didn’t beat them,” Thayer said. “They beat us all three times, and we really wanted to come out here tonight and use that as extra fuel and show them that we’re back and we’re ready to keep rolling.”
Playing on their home field, the Cougars started the game with high energy and cashed in early. Off a pass from junior Eva Rothman, senior Kaden Crowley curled one into the back of the net in the eighth minute.
“We told the ladies we knew we were going to get opportunities to shoot and put the ball on goal, and we really worked on finishing,” Thayer said. “And we knew if we could get some good tough shots up high and away from their keeper’s hands – who’s a very good keeper – we’d be able to get some in.”
About 10 minutes later, a shot by Rothman deflected off a defender, and sophomore Valentina Jimenez booted the rebound through for a 2-0 lead.
The momentum continued in Barron Collier’s favor as Rothman outmaneuvered her defender and drilled a shot into the corner of the net just before halftime.
“Kaden got that first one in, and we continued to talk to our ladies about putting ourselves in position to put the ball in the net and once we got a couple in and our confidence got built, we loved what we had going in the second half,” Thayer said.
The Cougars defense held strong the rest of the way, managing to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard and record their third consecutive shutout.
Estero, in their first season under head coach Eddie Villareal, finished 16-4-1, falling in the regional final round for a second consecutive year.
Barron Collier will head to DeLand to contest a state semifinal for the first time in nearly three decades. The Cougars will likely have to face a higher seed on Thursday, Feb. 26, for a spot in the state final.
“These ladies just have a belief, and we as coaches do as well,” Thayer said. “And our mindset’s just going to be go out there, play our game, and we’re going to beat the other team. We’re going to take everything we have to them, and we’re going to play to that final whistle.”
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Barron Collier girls soccer avenges last year’s loss, advances to Final Four
Reporting by Dustin B Levy, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
