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Columbia players celebrate with Carla Medina-Rodriguez (second from right) after she scored a goal against Suwannee on Thursday night. (BRENT KUYKENDALL/Lake City Reporter)
Practice this week saw Columbia head coach Chip Garner put an extra emphasis on shooting.
Turns out, it may have backfired a little. Luckily for him, it didn’t cost the Tigers a win.
Despite taking 30 shots for the night, Columbia only managed a 2-0 win over Suwannee during Thursday’s Senior Night match at Tiger Stadium. It took the Tigers until the 25th minute to finally find the net courtesy of Carla Medina-Rodriguez, and they didn’t score again until Nikki Sossie added a goal in the 55th.
“We did a lot of shot work in practice and it may have thrown us off a little,” Garner said. “We did a little more focus on shooting, and I think they overthought themselves a lot.”
The win capped off a special night for Columbia, which honored seniors Lilly Schneider, Olivia Kelly and Medina-Rodriguez at halftime. The Tigers also recognized juniors Mia Brasel and Penelope Wheeldon and sophomore Ashlie Caballero, who are all graduating early.
That group helped Columbia (8-2) post its eighth shutout of the season, with Wheeldon making three saves at goalkeeper to keep Suwannee (6-10-2) off the scoreboard.
“I’m just glad we have more matches with them, hopefully several,” Garner said. “I’m trying not to get emotional about it because I almost broke into tears talking to them after the match, but these girls just mean the world to me and I’m going to miss every one of them.”
Kelly, who’s been a four-year varsity member, has been sidelined all season due to a knee injury. But she finally got a chance to see the field to begin the second half Thursday, performing the kickoff before being quickly subbed out.
“That was a special moment for us because she’s been a key component on the bench,” Garner said. “She’s been our number one fan the whole season so far, so just to get her out there meant the world to everybody, obviously to her but everyone.”
After several missed scoring opportunities in the first half, the Tigers finally broke through in the 25th minute. Sossie fed a pass to Medina-Rodriguez inside the penalty box, and she finished it into the lower right corner of the net to put CHS up 1-0.
Suwannee goalkeeper Layla Merola, who made 15 saves, managed to limit the damage to that lone goal until about midway through the second half. That’s when Zoe Bulock tapped a pass over to Sossie who, just like Medina-Rodriguez, found the bottom right corner of the net to pretty much put the match out of reach.
“The intensity level definitely rose in her play in that second half,” Garner said of Sossie. “We had a few talks about wanting to get her to that next level and one of the things was just moving off the ball. She was doing great distribution, but she wasn’t moving off the ball. She finally got the ball back and managed to capitalize on it.”
The Bulldogs’ opportunities to strike were far and few between. Their two best chances came late in the match but both were off target, with Miranda Ramsey firing a shot left of the net in the 69th minute and Kikyo Johnson sending another ball over the crossbar a minute later.
The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for Suwannee, which won four of those matches via mercy rule.
“Suwannee has made drastic improvements from what I’ve seen footage wise and the rumors I’ve heard from other schools,” Garner said. “They came to play. They seem to be growing as a club. I’m glad they brought it. It definitely helps us in the future.”
Columbia wraps up the regular season on Friday at Keystone Heights in a 7 p.m. match. Suwannee's regular season is over with district touraments beginning next week.