After 100 minutes of hard-played soccer, Palmer Trinity coach Akram Molaka was nearly speechless, but not so much that he couldn’t reflect on what had just happened to his players.

“We’ve been telling the girls all year long what Walt Disney said, God bless him: If you can dream it, you can do it.”

What Palmer did was defeat host Melbourne Central Catholic 6-5 in penalty kicks, following a wildly entertaining 1-1 match in which MCC did everything imaginable to get to the net, but failed to crease it, save once.

The result marked the first time in its history that Palmer Trinity will appear in a state final, which will take place Friday at the University of South Florida.

It opened with much confidence for the Hustlers, who advanced to the Falcons’ half immediately and scored in the 18th minute, when Sophia Carroll took a ball from Devin McAllister and poked it into an empty goal.

The MCC back four frustrated the Falcons at every turn while its midfielders created chance after chance, but the shots went over, around and off the goal multiple times when the Hustlers’ efforts were not being thwarted by an outstanding Palmer Trinity defensive effort.

Senior Bailey Evans saved 17 times in the match, often taking the ball off the feet of onrushing MCC strikers.

FLORIDA TODAY

CHEERLEADING

Dade Christian narrowly made its way out of the semifinal round at the FHSAA Competitive Cheerleading State Championships to claim runners-up in Class 1A Small Varsity Division at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

The Crusaders overcame a close decision on the judge’s scorecards to put together its best routine of the season when it mattered most.

“This is the best I’ve seen them perform all season long,” Dade Christian coach Jennifer Martinez said. “And they’ve been great all season, but they were just amazing tonight.”

Dade Christian qualified for the final round of competition with a score of 68.7, edging out St. Petersburg by two-tenths of a point (68.5) to secure the final spot alongside Panama City Bay (71.4) and Graceville (69.0).

Panama Bay came away with the title in convincing fashion by scoring a 77.2 in the finals while Dade Christian received a 70.0 from the judges. Graceville followed close behind with a score of 67.0.

Three other local teams fell short of advancing to the championship round .

In the Class 1A Large Varsity Division, Cardinal Gibbons missed out on moving past the semis by less than eight points, placing fifth overall with a score of 55.3. Highlands Christian (37.6) came in at No. 12 in the state in 1A Large Varsity while Western finished the day No. 18 overall in the Class 2A Large Varsity Division.

J.C. CARNAHAN

DISTRICT WRESTLING

Columbus went toe-to-toe with rival Southwest again Friday at the District 15-3A wrestling championships at Braddock.

Just as they did at the GMAC tournament two weeks ago, a little more depth helped Columbus finish higher.

Columbus scored 202.5 points to edge Southwest by 13 points for the team championship. Each team finished with five individual district champions and sent 11 wrestlers to next week’s regionals.

But Columbus had two more district runners-up that helped tilt the point total in its favor. Braddock finished third.

Team standings: 1. Columbus 202.5; 2. Southwest 189.5; 3. Braddock 168; 4. Miami High 101; 5. Coral Park 60; 6. South Miami 58.5; 7. Miami Beach 55.5; 8. Coral Gables 41. Championship finals – 106: Lazaro Rojas (COL) pin Joseph Garcia (MHS) 4:32; 113: Gustavo Villamil (BR) dec. Emilio Chacon (MHS) 10-8; 120: Damian Penichet (COL) tech Milton Hope (BR) 17-0; 126: Nosomy Pozo (SW) pin Jose Felipe (BR) 4:41; 132: Alejandro Sancho (SM) pin Wayne Tarpley (MHS) 3:55; 138: Robert Powell (COL) dec. Geoffrey Nicholas (BR) 3-1; 145: Yoanse Mejia (SW) dec. Sonny Gulesian (COL) 6-4; 152: Lorenzo Walker-Thomas (SW) pin Santiago Cardona (CP) 0:30; 160: Daniel Sanchez (SW) pin Luis Cepero (CP) 3:45; 170: Edward Mora (COL) pin Kevin Carabeo (CP) 4:08; 182: George Knowles (BR) pin Garrett Duell (COL) 1:21; 195: Nicholas Wethy (COL) pin Joel Obregon (SW) 1:13; 220: Angelo Cordano (BR) dec. Nicolas Gonzalez (COL) 8-6; 285: Khulsen Saruultuya (SW) pin D’Varius Wright (SM) 2:57.