- November 5, 2024
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It’s was déjà vu for the Flagler Palm Coast girls soccer team on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, it was the bad kind.
The Lady Bulldogs were ousted from the state playoffs after falling 3-2 to a pesky Fletcher team in the Class 5A regional quarterfinals.
It’s the third time in three years FPC has been eliminated by the Lady Senators. Coach Pete Hald wasn’t happy with the way his team went out — and he expressed that after the game.
“When you pay awful, you lose,” Hald said. “That’s the bottom line.”
FPC likely wasn’t even planning to meet Fletcher in the first round after knocking off University in the District 2-5A finals. However, Fletcher was upset by Mandarin in their district championship game, and so Fletcher and FPC met for the third consecutive year.
Fletcher (13-4-3) controlled most of the game early on. The Lady Senators capitalized in the 11th minute when a long throw-in couldn’t get cleared by FPC’s defense. Fletcher’s Dominique Beltman cleaned up the garbage to give her team a 1-0 lead.
It was sloppy defender for FPC. And there was plenty more where that came from.
Fletcher’s Claudia Kraut made it 2-0 in the 19th minute when her shot from about 15 yards away sailed in over FPC keeper Maeve Dineen’s hands.
FPC (15-7-4) was able to cut the lead to one with about seven minutes to go in the first half when Josie Davis and Christen Barney connected on a one-two combination. Barney then slotted the shot into the back of the net for her 50th career goal.
“The only bright spot in the first half was that we managed to score a goal,” Hald said.
In the second half, FPC controlled much more of the possession and the play remained on Fletcher’s side of the field.
Barney continued to wreak havoc on Fletcher’s back four defenders. FPC cashed in on Barney’s speed when she took the ball to the touchline and slipped a ball back into the box. After a few deflections, Davis tapped in the equalizing goal with 23 minutes remaining in regular time.
FPC continued to press, but Fletcher delivered the heartbreaker with five minutes to go on a shot from about 20 yards away that went over Dineen’s head.
“We dug down deep and got back to 2-2, which was great, but then we give them a wide open crack,” Hald said, of the game-winning goal. “Awful defending. The entire game, we were terrible defending all over the place. Not just defenders — defending as a team.”
Analyzing the loss, Hald said his team got away from what it does best: Possess the ball, stretch the field and build up the attack. Instead, there were miss-hits and poor finishing.
The frustrating part, Hald said, was that despite playing poorly, his team still had several opportunities to squeeze a win.
“We have had good battles against Fletcher and, today, we just didn’t show up to play,” he said. “It’s unfortunate because we have a lot of experience — even though we’re young. We had moments where we played well, but you have to keep playing. This is win or go home, and we didn’t show up.”
FPC will lose four seniors: captains Victoria Martins and Brittany Pacifico, as well as Kayla Barreiro and keeper Maeve Dineen.
But the Lady Bulldogs will return several key freshmen, sophomores and juniors, such as top goal-scorer Barney and defender/midfielder Amanda Raleigh.
Although FPC won the district championship, it was still a premature end to the Lady Bulldogs’ season for Hald and his team.
“If we played well and got beat by a better team, so be it,” Hald said. “I give (Fletcher) all the credit, but we didn’t play very well and we’re playing against a team that if we just play half of our ability, we’re going to win.”
Perhaps next season, which will be No. 23 for Hald, things will be different.
