Lakers girls soccer closes regular season on high note

With only one loss during the season, the Lakers (15-1-1) are looking forward to hopefully taking the field on Friday afternoon at The First Academy in Orlando for the district final.

Their opponents along the way will be tough, but this team won’t back down. Head coach Greg Stone said their preparation for the competitive atmosphere of a district tournament was more mental than physical training.

“We’re just going to mentally focus,” he said. “We had two tough games (last) week, so it’s kind of recovering from some little injuries and things and just mentally preparing for the games that are ahead.”

With a few seasoned players on the team, Stone said the team knows how to operate strategically and is comfortable executing its game plan.

“Tactically, they have a good idea of what to do,” Stone said. “I think some of the close games we’ve been playing very strong defensively, and that’s kind of given us a good opportunity to maybe score a goal or two at the end.”

The Lakers’ last game of the regular season was a close call, with the game-winning goal coming just 15 seconds before time ran out in the showdown with Father Lopez Jan. 8. 

Taylor Duran, Windermere Prep’s leading scorer this season, scored both goals for the Lakers that afternoon. Duran said afterward she was confident after such a tight win that the team now has the momentum it needs to succeed during districts.

“That was the best way we could have come out to go into districts, because now we have the confidence that we need to go into districts,” Duran said.

Duran added the pair goals to her already impressive record of 67 this season. Duran, only in her junior year, said although it’s been a good season, she still has room to improve.

With a successful regular season in the books, the team is feeling optimistic as it heads toward the goal of being district champions  — and beyond.