January 29, 2024
East Ridge Lady Knights Soccer Team Begin Quest for 3rd District Championship
By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge Lady Knights Soccer Team Begin Quest for 3rd District Championship
The East Ridge Lady Knights soccer team has put together an amazing regular season and head into the district tournament with a 12-0-2 record. The Lady Knights are seeded #1 in district 5. The Knights have been led by their starting three senior captains all season long. Cayla Jackson who is committed to the (University of Georgia), Morgan Guillmette who is committed to (University of North Florida) and Bella Altenbaugh.
(Cayla Jackson #4 has 30 goals this season. She is the #1 ranked player in Class 7A District 3 in goals scored and assists with 19. Jackson will be playing in the SEC conference with the UGA Bulldogs next season.)
Coach Leon Florez says “The Lady Knights have been amazing this year on the field. They have scored a total of 104 goals this season. That is very impressive especially for the competition we play. This is one of the best teams that East Ridge has ever had in the history of their high school girls soccer program.” The Knights will be going up against Apopka in the semi-finals. This will be a challenge for the Knights. They played just two weeks ago as East Ridge won 4-2 but it was a close one. Now with Apopka’s season potentially on the line they are in a must win game against East Ridge.
Even if the Lady Knights lose against Apopka there is still a good chance they get into the FHSAA Playoffs. The have 12 wins this year, two ties and no losses but the Lady Knights will come out strong on Tuesday night. If the girls win on Tuesday they will face either Lake Brantley or West Orange in the district championship on Thursday night at 7pm at Lake Brantley. Senior goaltender Kayden Page has been amazing all season. She is ranked as the #1 player in Class 7A District 3 with goals against average. She will need to have a strong game against a Apopka team who just put up 8 goals against West Port.
(As a team East Ridge is not just dominant on the playing field. They boast a 4.2 GPA average as a team. That is among the highest in all of Lake County! Amazing job girls!”
The talent on the field is also brought to life in the classroom. The team averages a 4.2 GPA in the classroom. That is one of the highest averages for any Lake County team be it boys or girls program. These ladies are among the top programs in Lake County at the moment. The Lady Knights begin their quest for a 3rd district championship on Tuesday, January 30th against Apopka. The game will be played at Lake Brantley High School at 7:30pm. Go Lady Knights!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
