The Lecanto girls soccer team rode a Kylie Fagan goal and
possession-oriented defense to a 1-0 victory over the Citrus Lady ‘Canes on
Monday at Citrus High School in their first district game.
The match looked like it would become a convincing Panther victory early
in the second half. Midfielder Kylie Fagan turned a spot-on assist from
Lecanto forward Becca Beadwin into a crushing back-of-the-net strike in the
44th minute to give her team a 1-0 lead.
“It was another great shot by Kylie,” Lecanto head coach Seda Roselle
said. “She did really well on that one.”
Up to that point, the Lady ‘Canes had taken only two shots, zero of which
were on goal, while Fagan’s goal was her team’s fifth shot-on-goal.
But Citrus (3-1, 1-1) refused to go away, taking seven shots in the final
15 minutes of play and nearly connecting on a pair of headers.
“Citrus played us really well,” Roselle said. “It was really
nerve-racking down the stretch.”
Citrus goalie Victoria Ekeli made six saves on the night, including a few
impressive steals from power-striking Panther forward, Ashley Irizzary,
early in the match.
Ekeli got some defensive help from Hurricane midfielder Alex Trick in the
second half when Irizzary and Beadwin threatened with several fast-break
attacks.
“We got to see fantastic goalie play by Victoria tonight,” Citrus head
coach Steve Ekeli said. “She
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