The Cypress Bay girls’ soccer team wins in overtime to advance into state semifinals
With a sharpie in her hand, one by one, Cypress Bay coach Kate Dwyer called her players up before the game. And one by one she wrote a number on the back of their finger — 3.
When the questioner asked what it was all about, Dwyer’s response was quick.
“It means we have three games left to win to get to where we want to get,” said Dyer referring to the program’s first state championship which they came so painfully close to getting last year before a heartbreaking one goal loss in the title game.
Two hours and change later, Dwyer and her players were breathing easier and looking forward to putting a 2 on their finger on Friday.
That following a nailbiting 4-3 overtime victory over a gutty and determined Coral Reef team in a Region 4-7A final on Tuesday night at Cypress Bay High School. The Lightning (21-1), ranked No. 4 in the nation (Max Preps) now move on to the 7A state semifinal and will host Vero Beach on Friday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s state semi.
It will represent a chance to get back to the state final in DeLand where they lost to Palm Harbor University in last year’s final and perhaps write a “1” on their finger.
The game-winner came with just one minute left in the first 10-minute overtime when Megan Morgan dropped a corner kick right in front of the net that Sonya Carmona managed to get a leg on. When Reef keeper Amanda Fernandez couldn’t get to the loose ball, Carmona left-footed it in to put her team up 4-3.
“Everything was just a blur,” Carmona said. “I just remember it coming in and just trying to get it with my thigh and let it hit the ground. It took a perfect bounce and at that point it was just doing anything I could to get a foot on it. Even when it went in, we still knew we needed to go another 10 minutes so there wasn’t too much celebrating.”
Solid defense over the final 10 minutes in the second OT by the Lightning protected the one goal advantage. It’s something that did not happen five minutes into that first OT. That’s when Carmona and Morgan broke free on a 2-on-1, Carmona fed her a perfect pass and Morgan scored to make it 3-2.
But the Barracudas (20-3-1) didn’t flinch. Just 30 seconds later they got the game tied again when Tianna Rivera broke free down the left side and beat CB keeper Jada Avick, who came out too far and overcommitted, to the ball and knocked it home.
“We honestly didn’t play well tonight and have a lot of work to do before Friday because Boca or Vero is going to be an even bigger step up,” said Dwyer. “But the girls did a nice job of not panicking early because we haven’t been all season, let alone by two goals.”
Dwyer referred to Reef’s stunning start. The Barracudas, thanks to a Rivera goal five minutes into the game followed by a foul in the box giving Reef a penalty kick which Rivera converted at the 13 minute mark put the Cudas up 2-0.
“It was crazy and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that maybe we just weren’t ready to go when the game started,” said Morgan. “But it’s a credit to all of us that we didn’t panic or freak out and managed to come right back and knock two goals in and get the game tied again quickly.”
And it was Morgan who got her team back in it and quickly.
Just three minutes after Rivera’s second goal, Morgan was fouled in the box and converted the penalty kick to slice the deficit in half.
Less than a minute later, Natalia Ballinas got to a ball down the right side and rifled a perfect centering pass to Morgan who got behind the defense and knocked it home.
The game would then go scoreless for the remaining 63 minutes of regulation.
For Reef, it was a lot of tears and despair following the game, especially from Fernandez who was magnificent in defeat. Had it not been for a spectacular save with 30 seconds left in regulation in which she stoned Morgan in a one-on-one breakaway, deflecting the ball with her leg, there would’ve been no overtime.
“I can’t be more proud of the girls,” said Reef coach Deano Nunez. “They played their hearts out on that field tonight but the farther you get in the playoffs the tougher it is when it ends.”
McCARTHY ROUTS PALM BAY BAYSIDE
The host Mavericks entered the Region 4-5A final as heavy favorites and delivered as promised as they cruised to an easy 7-0 win over the Bears.
McCarthy, which dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker in last year’s state championship game to Montverde Academy, will host Estero in a 5A state semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m.
“A good job tonight by the girls of coming out and taking care of their business,” said McCarthy head coach Mike Sica who saw his No. 6 nationally-ranked team improve to 20-1-2. “On paper we should’ve won this easily and we did but that’s not always the way it works in soccer. We thought we would be playing (Riviera Beach) Suncoast in this round but this team knocked them off so you can never take anything for granted.”
Sica watched Ileana Ramirez, Bella Rocco and Jazmin Herrera each score first half goals to build a 3-0 lead at the break. The onslaught then continued as Liliana Katz scored just seven minutes into the second half before Rocco and Herrera each followed with their second goals. Aubrey Havens capped things off with a score with less than a minute left.
REGION 4-4A FINAL
▪ CARDINAL GIBBONS 1, GULLIVER PREP 0: The Chiefs, thanks to an “own-goal” by Gulliver in the game’s 18th minute, advanced to their second straight state semifinal and will host either Merritt Island or Lakeland McKeel Academy on Friday at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 9:44 PM.