Girls Soccer: April Bahena lifts Elmwood Park into sectional

Updated: May 19, 2012 5:08PM

Elmwood Park’s April Bahena discovered Saturday that where there’s a will there is a way.

The senior scored both goals for the host Tigers as they won the a Class 2A regional title for the second straight year with a 2-0 victory over Farragut. Prolonging the season was something Bahena really wanted since it is her final season.

Bahena’s goal off a corner kick broke a 0-0 tie with just over four minutes played in the second half as the shot just made its way into the net after tipping the fingers of goalie Selene Wence (eight saves).

“That first goal was just will,” Elmwood Park coach Martin Blake said. “In fact, I think she willed in both goals — there is just no giving up in her. April has been fighting through injuries since sophomore year and this season was no different. She went down with a pretty bad bone bruise the second or third game of the year. She’s doing as well as she can and she’s vital to our success, being in the middle and distributing the ball, but today she scored the goals, usually she’s the one getting the assists.”

Bahena struck again at the 15:06 mark with the help of a couple of great passes from her teammates, culminating in a lead pass that allowed her to put a clean shot by Wence from point-blank range while on a dead run.

Bahena was thrilled to capture another regional in her senior year and hopes to extend the season even more when they go up against St. Francis on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Elmwood Park Sectional.

“It feels amazing to win this regional,” she said. “Especially since I’m a senior, it makes it even more exciting. It was all teamwork, all the girls played a huge part in this championship. I was very happy when we went up 2-0. On that second goal I remember thinking, just follow through on the ball and don’t give up, don’t stop — and I got it in.”

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