Glades Day girls soccer and its prolific mother-daughter duo bucked expectations in 2022 from a district often dominated by Lake Worth Christian.
The Gators posted a 2-0 victory in the rivals’ first meeting in three years to earn a district championship last week.
It was a symbolic win for the Gators (12-4-2), namely team captains Jenna Smith, Nicki Ruiz, and Hana Lohmann, who set a goal to win the District 13-2A playoff series in the team’s first meeting of the season.
Glades Day suffered shutout losses in six previous matches with the Defenders (8-8), from 2016 to 2019. Last week’s triumph marked the Gators’ first time defeating Lake Worth Christian since 2015, which was also their last winning season.
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Head coach Angie Lohmann described this season as a “rollercoaster,” but a “positive” one.
Her daughter, Hana, leads the Gators offensively and is scoring at a county-leading rate. Amongst boys and girls, Lohmann is Palm Beach County’s leader in goals, assists, and points with 44, 28, and 116 respectively.
Hana was the lone scorer in the district championship against Lake Worth Christian. Additionally, Lohmann contributed five goals and two assists in the preceding tournament game against Moore Haven, which the Gators won 8-0.
Despite being known for stuffing the stat sheet since starting on varsity in sixth grade, Hana Lohmann’s on-field leadership has been just as crucial as the Gators have fielded 13 sixth and seventh graders on varsity.
In addition to Lohmann, Smith’s guidance is essential to directing the younger players to proper positioning.
“Several new players have worked incredibly hard to earn starting positions and really add to the team dynamic,” Lohmann said.
Familiar faces in senior forward Landry Pitts, junior Linda Gonzalez, and freshman Sumaya Cunningham will also be critical to the Gators’ success, filling in at “key positions” to provide scoring opportunities, along with goalie Ruiz being “focused and clutch in every situation.”
“We hope to round out the season playing our best soccer yet – together,” Lohmann said. “I just hope we stay on track and are able to add a few more wins.
“I want the girls to have a finish that they can be very proud of.”
The third-seeded Gators will face Miami-Archimedean (11-2-1) in regional quarterfinals on Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Glades Day girls soccer breaks through with prolific mother-daughter duo
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