Lady Marlins shut out Liza Jackson

After a slow start, the Destin Marlins gave the Liza Jackson Lions the boot, 6-0, in girls middle school soccer action in Destin Wednesday evening.

“Any time you win, especially 6-0, you’ve got to be happy about that,” said Destin Coach Demetris Stevens.

This was the Marlins’ first outing back on the pitch since Dec. 16, plus it was eighth grade recognition night.

"The girls were a little emotional because it was their last home game for the eighth graders and it showed a little at the beginning with nerves. But I think overall we had a good team win. We got a lot of people on the scoreboard, and that’s a good thing building up to the playoffs,“ Stevens said.

In Wednesday’s game, the Lady Marlins didn’t score until the last 10 minutes of the first half. Ally Dowdy crossed a pass in from the left side to Bella Powell, who booted the ball right up the middle to put the Marlins on the board.

With four minutes left to play in the first half, Destin eighth grader Jareny Enriquez broke away on the right side for a score putting the ball in the right corner of the net just out of the reach of the Liza Jackson goalie.

Destin led 2-0 at the half.

About four minutes into the second half, Enriquez kicked one from right to left with the ball hitting the bar then bouncing into the back of the net for a 3-0 game.

With 14:30 left to play, Destin’s Keelie Kleppinger scored on an indirect free kick to put Destin up 4-0. Three minutes later, Destin scored again. This time Dowdy booted one right up the middle from about 20 yards out to put the Marlins on top 5-0.

The last score of the night came with 8 minutes left to play. Emilie Stancevic crossed the ball over to Audrey Hill, who was right in front of the goal. Hill then tipped it in the net for a 6-0 finish.

With the win the Lady Marlins moved to 10-1 on the season with a Jan. 16 at Davidson Middle School in Crestview.

As for the boys, the Destin Marlins deadlocked with Liza Jackson at 1-1.

Eight minutes into the game, Liza Jackson put one in the back of the net over the Destin goalie’s head.

In the final minutes of the first half, Destin’s Jagar Love scored on a penalty kick. Love managed to get the ball past the goalie and into the right corner of the net.

The Destin boys will also be playing on Jan. 16 at Davidson Middle School.

The boys play at 5:30 p.m. and the girls will follow at approximately 6:30 p.m.