Polk women’s soccer team claims state supremacy
Published 5:05 pm Monday, June 1, 2009
The Lady Wolverines won their first state crown by beating Raleigh Charter 1-0. The game&squo;s only goal came on a free kick by junior midfielder Anna Trakas with 2:30 left.
Trakas had temporarily left the game after rolling her ankle a few minutes earlier, but there
was no doubt who would take the kick.
&dquo;We just told her, put it on the goal,&dquo; said Polk coach Lennox Charles. Trakas struck a bending shot over three defenders and past the gloves of a diving Phoenix keeper into the lower left corner. That goal, her 15th of the season, netted Polk a title and Trakas the game&squo;s MVP award.
&dquo;It&squo;s overwhelming,&dquo; she said after the game. &dquo;I was thinking, I have to make this shot.&ellip; I kept it down this time, and it was the time that counted the most, so I&squo;m glad I did it.&dquo;
Prior to that, the teams battled through 77 scoreless minutes, and it was actually Raleigh Charter who looked primed for a score. The Phoenix fired on Wolverine keeper Jazmine Bridgeman for most of the second half, but all 17 of their shots on goal were
unsuccessful. One was pretty close, though.
&dquo;It went off my fingertips and hit the post, and then coming back it was like right on the line, and I had to pounce on it like a puma,&dquo; said Bridgeman, who earned her tenth clean sheet of the season.
As the the clock wound down the last seconds of the game, the Polk sideline counted them down aloud and then sprinted to the middle of the field to savor the victory.
&dquo;I&squo;m happy for those girls,&dquo; said Charles. &dquo;Especially the ones who were here last year and came up short, there&squo;s no better way to end.&dquo;
The Lady Wolverines lost last year&squo;s championship match to Dixon.
This season, after losing four of their first five games, they went 19-2 and finished the year with a 10-game win streak.