Miami Country Day falls to juggernaut in girls’ soccer state final
When you think about it, you may as well have asked them to grab a pick axe and scale Mount Everest.
That was pretty close to the task facing the girls soccer players from Miami Country Day when they took the field against Orange Park St. Johns Country Day on Wednesday at Spec Martin Stadium.
The venue was the Class 1A state championship game and MCD was taking on a team that came in 24-0, ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, has not lost a soccer game in three years (87 straight without a loss) and looking to tie a state record set by St. Thomas Aquinas (1993-99) of seven consecutive state championships.
And if the Spartans had any thoughts of possibly shocking the world, it disappeared quickly as they fell behind 2-0 before the first half water break and St. John’s turned in a decisive and dominant 6-0 victory.
And with that, St. Thomas now shares the state record of seven consecutive state championships as St. John’s, with a roster littered with FBS recruits, has now won 35 consecutive playoff games dating all the way back to a regional final loss to Winter Park Trinity Prep in 2011 and outscored their opponents by a ridiculous 186-11 in the process.
The Miami Country Day girls found out what six previous opponents in the state title game found out. You can dream about trying to pull off the upset but actually getting it done on the field against this dominant program is an entirely different story.
“They’re just so good and it isn’t just about the superior athleticism either,” said Miami Country Day coach Kyllene Carter of her opponent. “On top of the great athleticism, they are well organized, work so well together as a group and collectively it’s like they each always know what the other is doing out there and when you run into something like that, it’s just so tough.”
St. John’s (25-0) wasted little time exercising its superiority as Kamryn Loustau, a Princeton commit, headed in a perfect corner kick from Payton Walton past MCD keeper Sophia Benenson just 3:42 into the game to go up 1-0. St. John’s then made it 2-0 at the 23:43 mark of the first half when TCU-bound Payton Crews popped one in.
MCD actually hung tough the remainder of the first half and went to the halftime locker room only trailing 2-0. But that changed very quickly early in the second half when Crews scored again less than a minute in and Alisa Detlefsen scored two minutes later to make it 4-0.
“St. John’s? It’s like going up against a kind of an all-star club team,” said MCD senior forward Amanda Martin who was the team leader in goals with 23 and is on her way to South Carolina. “There are just no soft spots anywhere on the field that you can try and go after, which makes it really tough to do anything effectively against them. We were hoping to come out and kind of make it a defensive type of game but once they got up 2-0, we knew that wasn’t going to work. I’m still proud of what we accomplished this year.”
Said Carter: “My girls gave it their best shot and I’m certainly proud of what they accomplished. Making it to the state championship game in your respective sport is not easy to do and something to be very proud of.”
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
▪ Region 4-4A Final: Miami Country Day 71, North Palm Beach Benjamin School 39: MCDS: (17-10): Berry 15, Shaw 15, Love 14, Alvarez 7, J. Theodule 7, Taylor 3, McCormack 3, E. Theodule 3, Godfrey 2, Gordon 2. Three-pointers: Shaw 2, Alvarez, Love, McCormack, E. Theodule. Rebounds: Love 7. Assists: Alvarez 6. Steals: J. Theodule 5. Blocks: Love 2. Half: MCD 28-24.
▪ Region 4-4A Final: SLAM 61, Marathon 21: Marta Franco 23 points 6 rebounds 3 steals; Jailene Garcia 9 points 1 rebound 2 steals; Stephanie Garcia 8 points 6 rebounds 3 steals.
▪ Region 4-9A semifinal: Miami High 52, Krop 33: Whitley 10, Rodriguez 10, Bucknor 10, Wilson 10, Rachel 8, Gomez 3, Scott 1. KR: Francois 14, Knowles 7, Ali 6, Weingard 6. Rebounds: Bucknor 18. Steals: Bucknor 5. Assists: Whitley 3, Bucknor 3. Three pointers: Whitley 2, Weingard 2, Ali, Gomez. Half: MHS 27 -20.
▪ Region 4-5A semifinal: Gulliver Prep. 62, Booker T. Washington 41: GP: (22-5): Pinder 20, Sanders 18, Haymore 18, Berman 3, Joseph 2, Santoro 1. Half: GP 27-17.
▪ Region 4-9A semifinal: Ferguson 70, Southridge 38: FER: (26-4): Pineda 15, Cruz 12, Hunter 10, Charlton 10, Laureano 8, A. Rodriguez 7, Daniels 6, Y. Rodriguez 2. SR: Bush 11, Hightower 9, Swan 9, Swan 8, Lesperance 3, Tims 3, Holton 2, Rolle 2. Half: FER 32-16. Three pointers: Hunter 2, Cruz 2, Pineda, Laureano. Assits: Pineda 10. Rebounds: Daniels 7, Steals: Hunter 6. Blocks: A. Rodriguez 6.
SOFTBALL
▪ Doral Academy 10, West Palm Beach Oxbridge Academy 2: Amanda Ramirez, KC Machado and Gaby Ruiz each homered to lead the offense. Machado pitched a complete game, striking out four.
BASEBALL
▪ Killian 8, Hialeah Gardens 1: Adrian Parra 2-for-2, 2 RBIs. WP: Luis Sanabria, 5 innings, one unearned, 2 hits, 3 Ks.
▪ Miami High 15, Central 1: WP: Ismael Astacio (1-0) LP: Brown. Michael Gayo 2-for-2, HR, 3 Runs, 2 RBI's. Hernando Alvarez 2-for-2 2 RBI's. Alex De Arazoza 1-for-3 1 Run, 1 RBI. MHS: 1-0.
▪ Gulliver Prep. 10, Reagan 2: WP: Julian Erro (1-0). Adrian Del Castillo 2-for-4 HR 2 RBI’s, Lucas Costello 1-for-3 HR 2 RBI’s, Ryan Kaufman 2-for-4 3 RBI’s. GP: 1-0.
▪ Miami Beach 5, American 1: WP: Nolan Santos 3H,12K, 0 ER. Angel Vizcaíno 1 for 3, 2 RBI, Emanuel Arias 2 for 4, RBI, David Castillo 2 for 3
▪ Miami Country Day 11, Marathon 0: WP Jorden Gross (1-0) Complete game, no hitter, 10 strikeouts. Connor Goodman - 2 hits and 2 runs. Lee Iaslovits - 3 RBI
▪ Hialeah Educational 10, Highlands Christian 0: WP. Alejandro Caballero 6 IP, 6 Ks. Carlos Castillo 2-3 2B, Bryan Pazos 3-3 2B
GIRLS’ TENNIS
▪ MAST Academy d. Coral Shores 5-2: 1. Anabella Camacaro, Emilia Uscocovich, Victoria Gualtieri, Claudia Yuste all won singles matches.
▪ Suncoast 6, North Broward Prep 1: Zeitler/Leon won No. 1 dbls for NBP.
▪ Palmetto d. South Dade 7-0: Samantha Alicea, Ally Hayduk, Milena Vanderrei, Nathalie Vanderreis and Anastasia Dudaryk all won singles matches.
BOYS’ TENNIS
▪ MAST Academy d. Coral Shores 7-0: Eugenio Alvarez, Juan Lopez, Marcus Bernal, Derrick Roseman and Nicholas Iregui all won singles matches.
▪ Columbus d. Killian 7-0: Columbus number one Christian Barnes beat Killian’s Juan Puig 8-1. Sean Buechele, Felipe Gomez and Santiago Williamson all won singles matches. COL: 3-0.
▪ Palmetto d. South Dade 7-0: Mathew Fung, Dillon Blake, Ryan Fung, Cole Gibson and Jonathan Blake all won singles matches. PAL: 2-0.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
▪ St Thomas Aquinas 19, Plantation 0: Jada Preston 4 goals 3 assists, Carly Steinlauf 3 goals, Kaitlyn Michaud 3 goals 3 assists
BOYS’ LACROSSE
▪ North Broward Prep 19, Coral Springs 0: Charlie Khalil 10 goals, Parker Bloder 4 oals, Nick Rice 2 goals, Victor Troese, Chris Peter, Jared Weinstein 1 goal each.
▪ American Heritage-Plantation 11, University School 4: Jeremy Lapayowker had 10 saves for University, Gavin Ward scored 2 goals.
GIRLS’ WATER POLO
▪ Coral Reef 20, Hialeah Miami Lakes 0: Daniella Beltre: 2 goals & 1 assist, Natalia Chamizo: 2 assist, 2 steals, 1 goal, Tatiana Martinez: 4 steals, 2 goals.
This story was originally published February 22, 2018 at 12:10 AM with the headline "Miami Country Day falls to juggernaut in girls’ soccer state final."