Resilient Ransom girls’ soccer team moves within one win of return trip to state
Ransom Everglades’ girls’ soccer team’s starting lineup has experienced seniors like forward Johanna James.
And it has young standouts like eighth-grader Evie Clement.
The common denominator for the Raiders is that no matter what grade they are in, they are dangerous with the ball in front of the goal.
They proved it on Monday night as James and Clement provided the goals Ransom Everglades needed to inch past True North Classical Academy in a Region 4-2A semifinal at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus.
The Raiders (15-5-1), the No. 3 seed in the region, will attempt to return to the state final four for the second consecutive season when it travels to face top-seeded Miami Palmer Trinity on Friday at 3:30. Palmer cruised past Carrollton 5-1 to advance to the regional finals.
“I’m so proud of us for working as hard as we have,” James said. “Even when the tides of the game switch, we keep pushing and keep playing. When it all comes together it’s really beautiful. I feel we all see each other as equals and learn from each other.”
Clement broke a 1-1 tie with roughly 10 minutes left in regulation when she fired a shot that deflected off a True North defender and past Titans’ goalie Joss Blau.
“They passed me the ball and I took a touch around the girl and when I shot it hit off the defender, but it still went in,” Clement said. “It was really exciting being my first goal.”
It’s been that kind of season for Ransom where it has needed to find offense from different sources while key players have dealt with injuries.
And yet the Raiders have found a way to advance to the doorstep of the state tournament once again.
“It’s been a tough season because we’ve had a lot of key players dealing with injuries and played despite not being 100 percent,” Ransom coach Antonio Boada said. “The girls go all out on the field and they’ve made this happen. When you see an eighth-grader do what she did today, it shows you the mentality and the drive of this team. The girls have believed in what we’ve built and now we’ll take our best shot against a very good Palmer team.”
Clement’s go-ahead goal came about 20 minutes after True North (11-3-2) leveled the match on a goal by sophomore Mena Griego.
The Titans, who also have dealt with key losses during the season including their initial starting goalkeeper Ashley Rodriguez, kept themselves in the match when Blau and True North’s defenders deflected away multiple second-half attempts by Ransom.
But there was no bigger save in the match than by Raiders’ freshman goalkeeper Marina Molina, who made a sliding save moments after Griego’s goal. Griego again found her way past Ransom’s defense and fired a pinpoint shot. But Molina stuck out her leg and kicked it clear to deny True North one of its best scoring chances.
“I was a little stressed, but I had to stay calm,” Molina said. “I told myself if I got this, I’d save my team. I was overjoyed with my teammates hyping me up. No matter what the statistics are, we go out there strong.”
James scored her 10th goal of the season within the first five minutes of the match off an assist from Stella Colombo, who leads Ransom with 31 goals and 17 assists this season.
It was the type of quick strike that the Raiders will need if they are to have a chance against Palmer Trinity, the team Ransom beat in last year’s regional final to advance to state. The Falcons beat Ransom 6-3 during the regular season.
