FPC freshmen making an impact on girls soccer team

Flagler Palm Coast girls soccer coach Pete Hald would probably be happy if he had one impact freshman player. Hald actually has three impact freshmen, and he's thrilled.

"We got some new kids," Hald said after the Bulldogs notched their fourth straight shutout in defeating DeLand 4-0 on Monday, Dec. 12, at home.

One of those newcomers, freshman center midfielder Isabella Kummernes, scored two goals. Another, freshman goalkeeper Natalie Neal, produced her seventh clean sheet of the season.

The third, Eva Sites, has been solid at center back, allowing the Bulldogs to move senior Emma Swearingen up the field to forward during games, Hald said. Swearingen has responded with a team-high nine goals.

FPC improved to 8-2-1 heading into a home game against New Smyrna Beach on Dec. 13. The Bulldogs host cross-town rival Matanzas on Friday, Dec. 16.

Kummernes put FPC on the scoreboard about 25 minutes into the game. She drilled a left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box off a set piece in which Kummernes and Savannah O'Grady both set up for a corner kick. Kummernes touched to O'Grady who then laid it back to the trailing Kummernes for the shot.

"She's a good playmaker, good on the dribble, and she has a great shot. She can rip it pretty good with her left and right foot. She has a lot of confidence with the ball. She doesn't play like a freshman."

— PETE HALD on midfielder Isabella Kummernes

"The defender can't play both players, so one of them will have a shot," Hald said. "(Kummernes) is so technical. She's a good playmaker, good on the dribble, and she has a great shot. She can rip it pretty good with her left and right foot. She has a lot of confidence with the ball. She doesn't play like a freshman. You can tell she's had a lot of high-level training."

Kummernes said she started playing soccer at age 4 when she lived in Colombia, even though both of her parents never played the sport.

"All of my friends played soccer," she said. Kummernes continued playing when her family moved to the United States a year later. She played for FKK soccer club in Orlando last season in the Elite Clubs National League. Playing her first year of high school soccer has been different, she said.

"It's more like a little family," she said. "We have more of a bond with each other, and the coaches are really supportive, and always pushing me."

Kummernes added her sixth goal of the season in the second half off of a Jessie Seay cross. Seay and Isabella Zuller scored the other goals. O'Grady had two assists.