The Sarasota Christian girls soccer program battled to an exciting 3-3 draw in their home opener against a very strong Southwest Florida Christian Academy. The Kings had recently cruised to wins in each of their last four matches against Sarasota Christian, but could not finish off the Blazers this time around. Sarasota Christian opened the scoring in the seventh minute of the match when Ryan Donlin took a throw in that squirted past the defense and to the waiting cleats of Senior Liv McCoy, who then took one touch and pushed it past the goalie and into the corner of the net. Then down 3-1 with 15 minutes to go, the Blazers willed their way to score and swing all momentum back to earn the point. First, Freshman Selah Spenn flicked a ball from a thrown in towards the Kings net and then chased it down and placed the ball into the corner of the net for her first goal of the season. Then, with around 3 minutes to go, Junior Cameron Lundquist found McCoy in front of the net and Liv turned and found an opening into the left corner to tie the game at 3. The Blazers out shot the Kings by a count of 24 to 17. Freshman Brooklyn Loftus made 14 saves.

"I thought that clearly the girls showed up tonight. The effort was fantastic against a very strong and well-coached team and did all they could to earn the draw. The defense played fantastic in the second half, and we were as dangerous as I've seen. Olivia McCoy came up big at the end like true goal-scorers will, but what an effort for the entire team to will their way for the comeback."   

The Blazers will travel to the east coast to play against Master's Academy (Friday, Nov. 22) and Tradition Prep (Saturday, Nov. 23) in a 2-game weekend prior to their Thanksgiving break.

Herald Tribune