As expected, the Class 3A-Region 3 semifinal between Berkeley Prep and St. Petersburg Catholic was physical and hotly contested.
"It's been that way for a long, long time," Berkeley Prep coach Ken Roberts said. "No surprise tonight."
And as this year's history has dictated, it was of little surprise that Berkeley won, 3-1, giving the Bucs a 3-0 record over the Barons this season.
More importantly, the victory propelled Berkeley (19-3-2) into Friday's regional final at Boca Raton St. Andrews, which defeated Pope John Paul II 8-1.
On Tuesday at Berkeley, junior Taylor Batye provided some early comfort in the third minute, breaking free and shooting a bullet past St. Petersburg Catholic keeper Maggie Dalessio.
"That was our priority, to [score early]," Roberts said. "We didn't want [SPC] hanging around."
Berkeley extended its lead to 2-0 just before the half when Batye sent a pass to Samantha Newhaller, who kicked it home.
Nonetheless, Roberts wasn't totally relaxed, especially after SPC (14-5-2) scored on a penalty kick in the 55th minute. He felt better in the 67th minute when Batye all but sealed it with a penalty kick of her own.
The drama continued with less than four minutes to go when Taylor Richardson went down after a violent collision with 3:44 left. After laying on the turf for more than 5 minutes, Richardson walked off under her own power. Roberts said Richardson banged her head, but he expected her to be fine.
"It was physical," SPC coach Gary Kolb said. "But the bottom line is that Berkeley Prep played very well and they deserved to win."
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