Hart girls soccer blanks Muskegon 8-0 in regular-season finale

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MUSKEGON — The Hart Pirates girls varsity soccer team closed out its regular season in dominant fashion Monday night, defeating the Muskegon Big Reds 8-0.

Hart needed some time to settle into the match before breaking through midway through the first half. Junior Olivia Bradley split the Muskegon defense with a pass to junior Natalie Rosema, who finished the opportunity to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining in the half.

Bradley added a goal of her own five minutes later to extend the advantage to 2-0. Hart’s final goal before halftime came on an own goal forced by a dangerous pass from junior Zoily Sarabia, sending the Pirates into the break with a 3-0 lead.

The Pirates wasted little time adding to their lead in the second half. Just over two minutes after the restart, sophomore Vivi VanAgtmael delivered a split pass to Sarabia, who beat the goalkeeper one-on-one and calmly finished into the bottom corner.

Four minutes later, with 33:19 remaining, sophomore Marissa Moul launched a quick throw-in over the Big Reds defense that found Rosema, who scored her second goal of the night.

Just a minute later, Rosema returned the favor by sending a cross to the back post where Sarabia was waiting for an easy tap-in finish.

Hart’s seventh goal came with 28 minutes left to play when sophomore Keyra Cruz connected with fellow sophomore Nereyda Espinoza, who beat a defender and fired a shot into the lower left corner. The goal was the first varsity goal of Espinoza’s career and Cruz’s first varsity assist.

Cruz said she hopes to chase down the assist total of her brother, Adan Cruz.

The final goal came on a daring effort from Bradley on a free kick near midfield. Freshman Kennley Riddell challenged Bradley to take the shot, and Bradley answered by dropping the ball just under the crossbar to complete the scoring.

Hart goalkeeper Baleigh Klotz had a quiet evening, collecting two through balls and finishing without a save opportunity.

The Pirates will now wait for the winner of Oakridge and Montague to determine their opponent in the district semifinals scheduled for May 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Hart.