Girls soccer: Bloomingdale gets second-half salvation

The Bulls shake off a sluggish start to notch their seventh straight shutout.

By KEITH NIEBUHR, Times Staff Writer
Published January 25, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Daniel Wallace | Times] Land O'Lakes Nicolle Forcier plays keep away with Bloomingdale's Jordan Johnson.

VALRICO - As Bloomingdale failed to convert on scoring chance after scoring chance Thursday night against Land O'Lakes, midfielder Nancy Davison admittedly started to get a little nervous.

"With about 30 minutes left, there was a sense of urgency," Davison said. "I knew I needed to score."

In the 56th minute, she did.

After shaking off two defenders, Davison fired a shot into the left corner of the net to give Bloomingdale the only goal it would need.

The Bulls added another 13 minutes later and the defense, which recorded its seventh straight shutout, did the rest in a 2-0 victory.

Following her goal, Davison was "kind of relieved."

So were her teammates. And her coach.

"I think we came out flat tonight," Bulls coach Sue Peet said. "That goal kind of broke the ice. I think it relaxed us. We picked it up at the end. We kept pounding away."

Defensively, Bloomingdale (14-3-2) was solid from the start. The Gators (12-10-2) didn't have a shot on goal for the first 29 minutes and finished with only four for the match. Land O'Lakes' best chance to score arguably came in the 68th minute, but Bulls keeper Christina Coca dove to the ground to intercept a Land O'Lakes pass intended for forward Chelsea Williams.

"That was a great opportunity," Land O'Lakes coach Vicky King said.

Bloomingdale went up 2-0 on an own goal soon after, all but icing it.

Bloomingdale 2 Land O'Lakes 0

[Last modified January 25, 2008, 00:14:23]