Girls Soccer: Jasmin Carrera’s hat trick leads Lane into regional final

Updated: May 16, 2012 11:52PM

Lane star Jasmin Carrera hit the 40-goal mark with a hat trick as the ndians breezed past Maine East in Wednesday’s Evanston Regional semifinal.

Carrera, a junior, opened the scoring just seven minutes into the game and added two more in the first half, as Lane built an 8-0 halftime lead. Freshman midfielders Anastasia Niforos and Sophia Pavon added two goals apiece for the Indians. Junior Leslie Rueda and senior Gina Lagattuta also found the net.

“I knew we’d get a lot of goals, we just wanted (our girls) to play well and keep trying to do what we do.” Lane head coach Mike Wasielewski said. “We didn’t want to just play kickball, but pass, cut, move and make runs. I think we did that. Hopefully, we’ll be ready for (the regional final on) Friday.”

Carrera said the game plan was a simple one on Wednesday: “We were just trying to score quick and many, just in case they made a comeback.”

At 6 p.m. Friday Lane faces Evanston for the regional title. This will be the fourth straight season the teams have met at this stage of the playoffs. Evanston has won two of those matchups, with Lane prevailing in double overtime in 2010.

Maine East finishes the season with a 2-15-1 record, but the Blue Demons did have one of the youngest teams around. The squad featured just two seniors and head coach Julie Dickinson said she’s prepared to build around junior Samantha Contreras and sophomore Kathy Janik next season.

The coach said the team’s inexperience and lack of confidence was evident for much of the campaign, including in the regional semifinal.

“It’s a matter of coming out and playing hard from the beginning, which they have not done a lot of the season,” Dickinson said. “I think that comes down to them not being confident in themselves.”

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