Battlefield girls soccer wins first-ever regional title

The seniors on the Battlefield girl’s soccer team had accomplished plenty over their four-year careers, including advancing all the way to the state final. However, the one jewel that eluded them was winning a regional title.

After their dominant 4-0 victory in the Northwest Regional final against the Heritage Pride, the title eludes them no more.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Battlefield head coach Kevin Hilton. “For the seniors it definitely was a long time coming. They wanted to get back here and get that banner.”

The Bobcats left little doubt, as they controlled the game throughout. Freshman Sydney Sisk started the scoring off for the Bobcats as she scored just 21 seconds into the contest, netting the ball in the top right corner. The goal seemed to give the Bobcats all they would need on the day, and put the Pride in a position they weren’t comfortable in.

“That’s huge,” said Hilton of the quick strike. “Against a team we’ve beaten three times already this year, they played us pretty well last time and they had a lot of momentum coming in.”

“We talked about trying to get them, not allowing them to gain any confidence, the longer they hang around the more confidence there going to have.”

The Bobcats would add a second goal in the 25^th minute as Rotante found the back of the net again.

This time she was set up by fellow senior Aly Shaughnessy who fed Rotante a gorgeous through ball, which left her with only the goalie to beat.

Throughout the remainder of the contest, the constant attack of the Bobcats left the Pride unable to get anything going offensively. The Bobcats were able to dominate the possession and seemed one step quicker to every ball.

This allowed the Bobcats to control the tempo and play at a pace more comfortable to them. In the second Bobcats didn’t let up as freshman Colleen Gawkins found herself behind the defense and easily beat the goalie to put her team up 3-0.

Then it was senior Kelsey Trace who added the final tally on a penalty kick in the 74^th minute. With the victory the Bobcats now will get the opportunity to host a state quarterfinal Tuesday.

“We’ve never hosted a state game in girl’s soccer,” said Hilton. “It’s nice not to get on the bus and drive two and a half hours to wherever it would be.”