Thanks to Josh Bender from Don Estridge for this story:
The Lady Dragons Soccer Team from Don Estridge High Tech Middle school captured its fifth Palm Beach County Championship in school history. The girls defeated Wellington Landings Middle School 2-0 on Friday, April 5th finishing an undefeated season, and their “unfinished business”.
Last season, the Lady Dragons were defeated by Wellington Landings in overtime and the heartbreaking loss stuck with the girls all off-season. “From the first day of tryouts, to the final whistle of this season, I have been telling the girls to finish your business. We have used the heartbreak from last season, to fuel us this season.”
The girls came out burning with pride from the first whistle, when off of a free kick from Valentina Lara, Co-captain, Sidney Jones banged in the rebound to give the Lady Dragons a 1-0. It stayed that throughout the physical game until Valentina Lara struck again. This time, with about 2 minutes remaining, she sent a pass through the midfield to a streaking Isabella Santini. Santini then shot it over the goalies head from about 20 yards out icing the game, and the championship for the girls.
The girls had a miraculous season. The offensive onslaught resulted in 46 total goals scored, in 13 games played. Leading the Lady Dragons in scoring was Isabella Santini with 16 goals. Defensively, the girls could not have had a finer season. Sarah Bailey recorded 8 shutouts, and the back line in front of the eighth grade keeper (Brenda Martinez, Valentina Lara, Arianna Hilliard, and Hailey Skiff) did not allow a single goal all regular season. The final statistics for the Lady Dragons were 46 goals scored to only 2 allowed.
Said Coach Bender: “I am extremely proud, and humbled to have coached such a fantastic team this year. The girls knew what was at stake, and how hard they needed to work to accomplish their goal. They truly [finished] their remarkable season.”
