The Escambia girls soccer team is in the midst of possibly its finest season in program history.
Year after year of losing campaigns have given way to a team that is the first in the area to reach 10 wins this season. There’s several reasons behind the Gators turnaround, but none more dynamic than a senior striker that just might be the area’s best player.
Scoring an area-best 29 goals through the first 12 matches, Jillian Thompson added to her total Friday night with a hat trick to lead Escambia to a 3-0 victory over Booker T. Washington from Emmitt Smith Field.
She was held off the board when the two teams met on Nov. 15, which ended in a 1-0 Wildcats win. But, with the senior’s blinding speed and next-level skills, there was little the visitors could do in the rematch to keep her down again.
“I think we came into (Friday) definitely looking for revenge,” Thompson said. “We definitely came in with our heads on straight knowing we had to play our best. I’m really proud of us for going in there and not quitting. Even if we were up by five, we wouldn’t have let the work rate drop.”
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The striker scored in the 24th, 56th and 68th minute. However, what most stood out to Gators head coach Mike Davis was his girls’ effort on the defensive end as Washington was held without a goal for the first time in 12 matches this season.
He credited the work of the backline, which includes freshmen Sabrina Corleone and Regan York along with junior Reese Allen and senior Amelia Hastings.
“Really happy with our defense. If they don’t score, we’re not going to lose any games,” Davis said. “I thought our defense did a really great job back there with Sabrina, Reese, Amelia and Reagan. They really held it down. … It gave us opportunities to build and work into the game on offense. Sometimes, you give a cheap one and now your chasing the game.”
Some of Washington’s best opportunities came off of Escambia misplays.
Early in the first half, freshman midfielder Ruth Oaks charged towards goal with a quick change-of-direction dribble, but she released a shot right at Gators sophomore goalkeeper Lilah Abdel-Ghani. Moments later, Oaks again had a scoring chance following an Escambia turnover, but Abdel-Ghani again was in position for the stop.
Then in the 35th minutes, another bad giveaway from the home team created a 2-on-1 opportunity in the box. Sophomore forward Ella Younger nearly scored the equalizer, but Abdel-Ghani used both hands to knock the ball away for a tremendous save.
Outside of a free kick from just outside of the box in the second half, the road team couldn’t muster enough offense against defense that cleaned up the turnovers.
“I don’t think we played that bad. It was a very physical game, we just didn’t pressure their goalkeeper that much,” Booker T. Washington head coach Kenny Morgan said. “Most of our shots went right at her. We had a lot of opportunities, but we didn’t make her make a good save. She played very well, take nothing away from them, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net tonight.”
The Gators improved their record to 10-2-1 this season while the Wildcats dropped to 8-3-1.
Thompson, the terrific
It’s not simply that Thompson is burying shots into the back of the net at a torrid pace. It’s that she’s creating these chances with such technical quality that so few can match.
The senior’s first goal, an absolute missile, came from a tight angle on the left side of the box. The buildup to her second score was the best play of the night.
Targeted for a pass near the middle of the pitch, Thompson’s first touch was a brilliant flick back to an open teammate, who then immediately returned it to the striker on a give-and-go. The senior raced up the field and drew a penalty after she was taken down in the box. Thompson made it 2-0 as she rocketed a top-shelf shot past Wildcats senior goalkeeper Emma Wilmoth.
Lastly, following a lead pass from sophomore forward Morgan Stancliff, the senior finished a breakaway chance to complete the hat trick. Earlier in the night, Thompson had a breakaway opportunity and a seemingly easy shot at goal, but she pulled her right-footed attempt wide of the mark.
Yet, what makes the striker such a scoring machine has as much to do with her mental makeup as it does her skills and athletic ability.
“You got to have a short-term memory in that game,” she said. “You can’t be dwelling on mistakes because that will just make you overthink. It’s just not going to be good for yourself. So I just try to learn from my mistakes, put my head down and hopefully I did that for my team.”
Youth in the back, girls responding up front
Thompson was the ultimate test for a back line that features three freshmen in Tyler Dana, Ruth Lipnicky and Isabelle Stroupe alongside senior captain Kaylah Carpenter.
Escambia attacked by almost exclusively using their midfielders to deliver long through passes to streaking forwards. At times, the Wildcats caught the home team with an offside trap. On other occasions, either Wilmoth was forced out of the net to make a play on the ball or the Gators created a breakaway.
“The more you play against better teams that are very skilled, especially a player like (Thompson), your girls have to think more and put themselves in a better position where they can deny her the opportunities that she had,” Morgan said. “We’re very young, so the future is bright for us.”
While the defense remains a work in process, Booker T. Washington’s largest concern is replacing the production of Elyse Carmichael. The sophomore forward injured her hip during a Dec. 5 match against Crestview and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
“She’s the ever-ready battery.” Morgan said. “Elyse can run, run, run all the time and she would make defenders play on their back foot because she is always a threat.”
Carmichael still leads the team with nine goals and nine assists, but the team has gotten contributions from others.
Freshman midfielder Sarah Westerheim has seven goals while Younger and junior midfielder Mia Nickinson have six apiece. Carpenter and Oaks each have five goals.
Since Carmichael’s injury, Washington has scored as many goals (10) as it has allowed, but the team is 3-2 in that stretch.
“It’s always hard when you lose a prolific goalscorer like Elyse, but the girls have stepped up,” Morgan said.
“The best Escambia team I’ve ever seen”
Thompson gets many of the headlines, but Escambia is far from a one-player team.
Corleone has taken the area by storm in her first varsity season. Splitting her time as a defender and a forward, the freshman is second on the Gators with 15 goals and is tied for the team-lead with 13 assists.
Elsewhere, Stringfellow also had 13 helpers to go with five goals. Stancliff has scored five times as well.
Behind her eighth shutout of the season, Abdel-Ghani lowered her goals-against average to 1.197. Escambia has relinquished 11 goals this season, which is tied with Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Catholic and West Florida for the fewest allowed in the area. The Gators have played more matches than any of the trio. Meanwhile, they have poured in an area-best 65 goals.
That has all carried over to a remarkable turnaround. Escambia has sealed a winning campaign after winning only 25 percent of its matches over the last eight seasons.
“It’s just a totally different attitude. The expectation is to win. It really doesn’t matter who we’re playing, that’s the expectation,” Davis said. “The Milton game this year, we tied. Last year, we tied Milton, too. (The players) were ecstatic to tie Milton last year, but this year, it was like losing just because of a different standard.”
Morgan added: “This is my 28th year as a head coach at Washington and this is the best Escambia team I’ve ever seen.”
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at [email protected].
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