James Murphy
BLUE LAKE 3 d INTERNATIONAL 2
BLUE Lake handed International its first loss of the 2022 Limestone Coast women’s soccer season on Saturday in the senior qualifying final.
After a hard-fought contest, the Rangers secured a 3-2 victory to book themselves the first place in the grand final, while forcing Inter into this week’s preliminary against Apollo.
Previous meetings between the sides had been close affairs, but Inter entered the game as favourite.
However, after two halves of soccer, Jasmine White had found the back of the net twice and Lauren Frost scored one goal to book Blue Lake a ticket into the decider.
For Inter it was April Hockey and Leonie Robertson who converted, but it was not quite enough to get the girls in black and blue over the line.
They now face an equally tough task against Apollo this round, who have also pushed Inter this year.
Their last meeting in Round 11 was a two-all draw, setting the scene for another intense final.
APOLLO 2 d MILLICENT 0
MILLICENT’S 2022 finals campaign is over after Apollo proved too strong in the elimination final on Saturday.
Apollo held the home-ground advantage and the confidence of having won their last encounter by three goals despite two draws earlier in the season.
A two-pronged attack from Zoe Brooksby and Daylia Daylia saw each convert a goal.
Meanwhile, the Apollo defence stood the test to deny Millicent forwards a chance to convert and at the final whistle a 2-0 lead kept the former’s finals dream alive.
Apollo will now look for a big team effort this week against the form side of the season.
Inter will be eager to redeem itself from last week’s loss to Blue Lake, which will make things tricky for anyone who looks to get in the way.
