Lady Rams Look For More After Winning Soccer Regional

The Eastside High School girl’s soccer team defeated River Ridge High School 3-0 to win a regional final and advance to the state playoffs.  It’s the first time in Eastside’s history that the girls soccer team wins the regional championship and proceeds to the 2018-19 FHSAA Girls Soccer State Championship Tournament semifinal.

First Half

The Lady Rams (19-3) first goal was scored by senior forward, Sierra Millinor, 16 minutes into the first half.

“It was exciting to go up early and get the lead to give us momentum and a little bit of piece of mind in the game,” Millinor said.

Both teams weren’t able to find much space to score until a mistake in the Lady Knights defense caused them the goal. The ball landed inside the box and Millinor was able to shoot it in.

Second Half

With just 40 minutes left on the clock, the Lady Rams started stronger with more shots on target and better defending.

“They were quick. They were getting in our passing lanes,” said Lady Rams coach Sergio Quintana. “We tried to move the ball and get everyone involved and it seemed like we could do one or two passes, but we could never get that third clean one.”

A goal by team captain and senior midfielder, Isabella Quintana, put the team up by two. Quintana ran in taking on two defenders and successfully placed the ball in the back of the net.  The final goal of the match was a screamer by Claire Talham who shot the ball right from the line of the penalty area.

“It was an amazing feeling having that last goal to finally ensure that we were gonna get this championship,” Talham said.

Final

The game finally ended 3-0 and gave the Lady Rams their ticket to the Final Four.

“It’s wonderful. It’s the greatest feeling ever,” Sergio Quintana said. “One of the goals we set was to get to the regional final; to get to the Final Four.”

The Lady Rams next game is against Gulf Breeze High School at Citizens Field on Friday at 7 pm.