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Columbia forward Kirsten Garner set a school record with 27 goals. (MANDI SLOAN/Special to the Reporter)
Eleven players scored a goal for Columbia this season but no one netted more than Kirsten Garner.
No one else in school history has either.
Garner set a school record this year with 27 goals, leading the Lady Tigers to their best season of the decade. Columbia finished 12-4-1 and the senior forward was the catalyst, finishing the season with a whopping 57 points that also included three assists.
Her record-breaking season on the pitch is why Garner is the Lake City Reporter’s Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
“It feels really nice, especially with my last season being such a very open experience for the whole team because of the four years that I’ve been there, I think almost every single person on the team was able to walk out with at least a goal including the defenders,” Garner said. “For me to have gotten the record while everyone still had their opportunity is really nice.”
Garner opened the season with two goals in a 3-1 win over Oak Hall and never cooled off. She scored two goals or more in a match eight times, including a hat trick against Oak Hall in the teams’ second meeting in December.
As Garner continued to put the ball in the back of the net, Columbia continued to rack up wins. The Lady Tigers began the season 9-0-1 and didn’t lose their first match until January.
It was the first time Columbia finished the season with a record above .500 since 2016, when the program posted a 12-11-1 mark.
“You can’t do it alone. She did have some great support,” said Columbia coach Chip Garner, who is also Kirsten’s father. “The supporting players constantly got her the ball, but when she got it she was able to finish in the net. That’s what you’re looking for.”
A long awaited playoff berth appeared on the horizon but the Lady Tigers stumbled down the stretch, losing four of their last seven. They needed to win their district tournament to clinch a spot in the Class 6A bracket, but they were shut out by Leon 4-0 in the district quarterfinals.
It was a tough pill to swallow for Garner, who says Columbia had eyes on the postseason.
“We had playoff hopes,” Kirsten said. “We knew that once we got to districts it would get a lot more competitive than it had been all season. We knew what we were getting into. We knew that we could beat anyone in districts that we could go against with the way that our play style had progressed throughout the season. It was that one game where we were off our game and they were on theirs and they outplayed us.”
Still, it was a memorable season for Garner. She bounced back from a six-goal junior year that saw Columbia win just one match to bring excitement to a girls soccer program that’s lacked it for years.
Her father noticed a change in her right from the start of the season. Kirsten was motivated to go out with a bang in her senior year and her record-scoring campaign proved it.
“She turned into a different person once the whistle blew,” Chip said. “She was able to actually have fun with the game and I think that was key. She spent so much time worrying about preparing in previous seasons and she would get a little nervous going into the games. But for some reason this year that went away and she was able to have fun on the pitch. It seemed like every time she got a ball she was scoring in some astronomical and phenomenal way.”
Being able to have so much success with her dad on the sidelines made her final high school season extra special, too. Chip has coached Kirsten almost every year since she began playing recreationally when she was five years old at CYSA.
That eventually transitioned to various travel teams and then CHS. Kirsten says she’s the soccer player she is today because of her father.
“I wouldn’t necessarily consider it playing for my dad because whenever we’re out and playing soccer and he’s the coach, he’s not my dad anymore,” Kirsten said. “He’s my coach and he has taught me more than I think I would have gotten from any other coach out there. He has always pushed me further than I know that any other coach would have because he can see where I could be and I’m so appreciative of that.”
Garner hopes to have an opportunity to play college soccer. She originally accepted an walk-on offer to USF but it would’ve mostly included only practices and limited game action and she had a change of heart following the high school season.
Now she’s looking for a Division II, Division III or NAIA school. Garner says Georgia Southwestern has shown interest as of late.
“Someone will get a killer forward,” Chip said. “She’s a phenomenal player.”
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
Emily Lamoreaux
Columbia, Goalkeeper
The senior made 111 saves in 17 matches with seven shutouts, allowing less than 1.4 goals per game.
Camryn Nix
Columbia, Fullback
The senior was the county’s top defender and even supplied a little offense, scoring two goals.
Ember Russell-Martinez
Columbia, Midfielder
The senior finished the year with 28 points, scoring 10 goals with eight assists.
Kiera Tracy
Fort White, Forward/Midfielder
Led the Lady Indians with team-highs of 10 goals and four assists as a freshman, finishing the season with 24 points.