OKEECHOBEE– The Okeechobee High School varsity girls soccer team honored five seniors following their 8-1 victory over the Westwood Lady Panthers on Jan. 27.

“With covid we’ve had a hard time playing games,” said assistant coach Bernardo Cornejo. “It hasn’t been easy but we’ve tried out best to make it the best we can, especially for our seniors this year. Our record was up and down but our girls had a lot of fun this year.”

The seniors recognized after the game were Faith Caldwell, Zerenity Jones, Gisselle Delgado-Gutierrez, Iliana Boyer, Aracely Cisneros, and Daisy Lujano.
Faith Caldwell was the only Lady Brahman not present at the ceremony as she had graduated early in December.

“Iliana has been a big surprise this year,” said Cornejo as he read names of the seniors during the ceremony after the game. “She has stepped up a lot more than anybody else I’ve seen in the past three years. She came out and did amazing this year after getting hurt last year. I’m really proud of her today.”

The Lady Brahmans dominated Westwood in their last home game of the regular season. Okeechobee put up three goals in the first half alone, before coming back in the second half and sending another five through the Lady Panther’s goal. The 8-1 win brings their final record to 5-7 this year and set them up for a run in the district playoffs.

Okeechobee has the third seed in their 5A district 14. That gives them a first round bye in the district playoffs and advances the Lady Brahmans to district semifinals where they’ll face Boyd Anderson Lady Cobras.

Boyd Anderson has played a much shorter season than Okeechobee. Maxpreps lists their record as 1-2 with a win over Northeast and two losses to Deerfield Beach and Coral Gables.

If Okeechobee can get past the Lady Cobras they’ll advance to the district championship where they’ll either face Suncoast, Northeast, or Port St. Lucie. The Lady Brahmans take on Boyd Anderson on Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. in Port St. Lucie.