Girls soccer: Mitchell shows dominance

Mitchell scores four goals in the final 20:22of the first half en route to a convincing win.

By DAVID MURPHY, Times Staff Writer
Published January 25, 2008

TRINITY - It took three years for members of the Mitchell girls soccer team to get back to the playoffs.

It took about 20 minutes for them to keep themselves there.

The Mustangs dominated the second portion of the first half, scoring four goals in the final 20:22 while cruising to a 5-1 win over Sarasota Riverview in a Class 6A regional quarterfinal.

"We were more excited than nervous," said sophomore midfielder Shelby Wright, who had a pair of assists. "This is farther than we've ever gone."

Well, not quite. Mitchell, which faces district rival Countryside for the second time in 11 days in the region semifinals Tuesday at home, reached the region finals in 2005. But Wright and fellow sophomore Marisa Russo, who scored two goals, were in seventh grade.

Mitchell 20-3-2 beat Countryside 1-0 for the Class 6A, District 7 title last week. During the regular season, the Mustangs lost to the Cougars 1-0.

"It's anybody's game," Mustangs coach Karl Kukec said.

Against the Rams (11-10-3), the Mustangs looked more than capable of extending their postseason run another round. Morgan Shellenberger and teammate Arielle Anahory scored goals 52 seconds apart in the first half to give Mitchell a 2-0 lead. Jessica Jagielski extended the lead to 3-0 with a goal with 7:59 before halftime. Russo scored her first goal four minutes later to complete the first-half flourish.

After a largely uneventful second half - Russo scored her second with 12:48 left, and the Rams' Paola Caicedo notched their lone tally a few minutes later - Mitchell was left to look forward to its match with Countryside.

David Murphy can be reached at dmurphy@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1407.

Mitchell 5 Sarasota Riverview 1

[Last modified January 24, 2008, 23:09:24]