Stanton Shuts Out Fletcher For Sixth Straight Gateway Title
Fabrizio Gowdy | Jan. 18, 2020 | Sports
The Stanton College Preparatory School Blue Devils varsity girls soccer team continued its historic dominance of the Gateway Conference tournament with a 1-0 win over the Fletcher High School Senators at home Friday night.
A fairly large crowd, including a strong student section, stayed for the second game of the double-header in spite of the cold temperature.
Much of the first half belonged to the defenses; neither team was able to break the stalemate until Stanton capitalized on a short Fletcher goal kick in the 29th minute. Senior striker Imani Ashman took control of the ball, beat a pair of Senator defenders and chipped the ball into the net for the game’s only goal.
The scoreless second half was ugly at times as both sides struggled to establish control of the ball. A solid Blue Devil defense, which has given up just 14 goals across 15 games, smothered the Senators, who had just a handful of scoring opportunities across the entirety of the second half.
Stanton senior goalkeeper Leslie Lerch was kept busy as the Fletcher offense suddenly came to life in the game’s final moments and as it sought to force overtime with an equalizing goal. Lerch made a number of saves, including one with six seconds remaining, to put the game away.
With another Gateway Conference title, the Blue Devils are now looking forward to the postseason.
“The goal is always the same: win the district title and see how far we can go," said Stanton head Coach Brian Heggood. He hopes to see this class of seniors go out with a season like the one they experienced when they were freshmen.
"These seniors came in and went all the way to the state championship game and I think they would like to go that far again as seniors, said Coach Heggood. He is referring to the Blue Devils' 2017 season, when they were the Class 5A state runner-ups.
Fletcher falls to 7-5-1 with the loss, while Stanton has won its last six games to get to 12-3 on the year. Stanton's next game is at Bartram Trail High School on Jan. 24.