Lane, Young advance to city final

Updated: May 12, 2011 3:08PM

Liceth Robles and Lane got a taste for trophies last year when the Indians captured their first Public League girls soccer championship since 2006 and won the second regional title in program history.

It’s only served to make them more ambitious.

“That game (against Evanston in the regional finals) was the best game I’ve ever played in my whole life. It was so intense,” said Robles, a St. Francis recruit. “That just really showed us we can reach a higher potential than we thought. It gave us more confidence and that’s what pushes us now for this season.”

The Indians pushed themselves to the brink of a second consecutive city title with a 7-0 victory Tuesday over Farragut in a Public League semifinal at Lane.

Sophomore Jasmin Carrera scored four goals – including two in 47 seconds in the first half – to lead Lane (15-3-1), which extended its unbeaten run against city teams to 25 games. The Indians’ last loss to a Public Leauge team came against Payton in the 2009 city final.

“Once we scored the first one, it got a lot easier after that,” Carrera said. “We like showing we’re the best city team and want to win the (Public League) championship again.”

Leslie Rueda had a goal and an assist and Vianey Hernandez and Anamaria Volkober added a goal for the Indians.

Susette Reynosa had three saves for Farragut (12-3-3), which finished third in the First Division in the regular season. The Admirals were the only non-Public League Premier team to qualify for the semifinals.

The loss snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak for Farragut, which beat First Division champion Taft in the quarterfinals.

“We proved to Taft that it was supposed to be us who got promoted,” Reynosa said. “We’re a small school, so it was a really good year for us.”

The Indians will play Young – which beat Northside 1-0 in the other semifinal – for the city championship Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Lane.

Young 1, Northside 0

Young (12-6-4) struggled for stretches earlier in the season to cope with the loss of starting sweeper Laura Kingsley.

Those times are long gone.

The Dolphins’ back line of Adaobi Ekwueme, Danielle Schroeder and Viviana Cardona continued their sensational run of form and Sara Rodriguez scored off a smart layoff from Maggie Kindra to lift Young to a victory over Northside in a Public League semifinal at Lane.

“Our defense hasn’t given up a goal in two weeks,” Young coach Spero Mandakas said. “(Schroeder) is a volleyball player, but she stepped into (the center back) role and taken it over. And then there’s (Ekwueme) – nothing gets by her.” 

Mandakas said the defensive core has really come together after struggling at times earlier in the season after Kingsley went down. 

The oppressive force the Dolphins’ defense has become was on full display against the Mustangs, as all-city goalie Rachel Hobert did not have to make a save in posting her 12th shutout of the season. 

“We realized that we have to play the ball in the air, we can’t let it bounce,” Ekwueme said. “We also developed our passing back there so we could build from the back instead of just blasting the ball out and losing possession.” 

Rodriguez scored 9:53 into the second half on a shot she tucked just inside the far post from 14 yards on an excellent layoff by Kindra. 

“We’ve been practicing shooting for the corners,” Rodriguez said. “(Kindra) and I have] been playing together since freshman year, so we have this connection on the field.” 

Said Kindra: “At halftime coach told us we should be working together as forwards. So we really tried to run off each other in the second half and it resulted in a goal.”

Defender Maura Illing made several important stops in front of goal and Kim Truong had seven saves for the Mustangs (12-7-3). 

“As a sweeper I had to step up and have my defender’s back. That’s my job,” Illing said. “It’s always a hard game against Young. We just weren’t quite ready against them this game.” 

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