Lourdes in familiar territory after securing another trip to the girls soccer state final

By now, they know the way to Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

The Lourdes Academy girls soccer team has made it a regular stop over the last five years and 2022 will be no exception thanks to another nail-biting late goal that sent the Bobcats back to the state championship game.

Samantha Diaz and Coco Aguilar combined for a perfect set piece goal with just over a minute left in regulation to give Lourdes a dramatic 2-1 victory over Land O’ Lakes in a Class 6A state semifinal contest before a packed and noisy crowd at Belen Jesuit’s De La Cruz Stadium.

The win advances Lourdes to the Class 6A state final where the Bobcats (17-1-3) will take on Neptune Beach Fletcher on Friday at 1:05 p.m. at their “home away from home,” Spec Martin Stadium.

It’s the fourth time in the last five years Lourdes has made it to the state title game, all played at the same venue, and the Bobcats will be looking to notch the program’s third state title after winning it in 2018 and 2020.

It was also the third consecutive game Lourdes won in dramatic fashion, after beating Dwyer in double overtime in the regional semifinals and Doral 1-0 on a goal with less than three minutes left in the regional final.

Just when it appeared this game was headed to overtime, a foul on Land O’ Lakes 30 yards from the net gave Lourdes a direct kick. Diaz gave it a pop with her right foot and dropped it perfectly in front of the net. Aguilar managed to get a perfect head on the ball and rifle it toward the left hand side of the net past diving goalkeeper Caidee Sumner with 1:07 left.

The Bobcats ran out the final minute with no issues before they stormed the field to celebrate with each other before heading over the stands to celebrate with their vociferous and loyal fan base.

“We work on set plays like that all the time and I always try and be the first one to the ball,” Aguilar said. “When I saw it coming in, I knew I had a good chance to get to it. Their keeper was all the way on the right so I managed to get a head on it and sent it in the opposite direction. When I saw the ball go in, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my life. Especially when we were getting so frustrated all night because it seemed like there was a wall in front of the net.”

Aguilar spoke of the bushel full of scoring chances Lourdes had all night long and yet could not seem to find a way to get the ball past Sumner who made numerous outstanding saves. But even when Sumner didn’t make the save, the soccer gods still seemed to be playing tricks on them.

After jumping out to an early 1-0 lead in the game’s 11th minute when Katerina Puig headed in a loose ball in front of the net that Sumner could not handle off a Diaz direct kick from the side, Lourdes was primed to make it 2-0 a few minutes later when Aguilar was fouled in the box giving them a penalty kick.

But Puig’s shot toward the bottom left missed the left post by inches. Lourdes continued to control the remainder of the half with more quality chances but Sumner was equal to the task.

Having not had any real scoring chances to that point, the Gators, (13-8-1) who were playing in their third straight state semi and looking for their first trip to the final since 2015, stunned the Bobcats with a tying goal with just under a minute left in the first half.

Eve Garrett, from about 35 yards out, simply turned on a free ball in the center of the field and sent it towards the net. The ball was just high enough to get over the outstretched hands of Lourdes keeper Gabriella Paredes and just low enough to get under the crossbar.

The second half continued to be an exercise in frustration for Lourdes players as they constantly pressured the goal, forcing Sumner to work hard to keep the ball out of the net, but could not break through until Diaz found Aguilar.

“I was just trying to chip it in to my group of teammates and see if somebody could get a head on it,” said Diaz of her game-winning assist. “It was super frustrating all night long because we had so many chances to score and just couldn’t. But when it’s like that, you just have to keep plugging away and in the end, you’ve got to have faith in your teammates that somebody is going to make a play to pull you through and that’s exactly what happened.”

In his first year after taking over for long-time head coach Ramiro Vengoechea, who stepped away from the program after last season, David Fique has had to put nearly an entirely new team on the field as the Bobcats graduated eight seniors off last year’s state final team.

“Just unreal, so many chances all night and they just couldn’t get the ball in the net,” Fique said. “But these were a determined bunch of girls and I can’t be more proud of them for hanging in there and finding a way to get it done. To get back to the state final once again with so many new girls on the field is really something. Two state championships and four out of five state finals is something to really be proud of. Hopefully we can finish it off.”

▪ Class 7A state semifinal - Cypress Bay 3, Boca Raton 0: The task was a tall one for coach Kate Dwyer and her Cypress Bay players. But a tough, challenging road game against the No. 2 ranked team in the state proved not to be that big an obstacle after all as the Lightning played their best game of the year.

Cypress Bay heads back to DeLand for a fourth straight year. The Lightning has lost in the final three consecutive seasons with losses to Palm Harbor University in 2019 and back-to-back losses to St. Johns Bartram Trail the past two years.

This time, Cypress Bay will face St. Johns Creekside, the No. 3 ranked team in the state which upset Bartram Trail in the regional round, in the 7A final on Friday at 4:05 p.m.

“Just a great effort by our girls who are finally starting to trust each other at the right time,” Dwyer said. “There is something about this group that they really rise up and play great when they’re up against a great opponent just like the Douglas game (CB crushed Douglas 6-0 in a regional semifinal) a few weeks ago. We’ll go back up there again and see if we can find a way to get it done but Creekside will certainly be a big challenge.”

Dwyer watched Barbie Garcia give her team a lead it would never lose when she scored off a Hannah Mason corner kick midway through the first half to stake the Lightning (16-4-1) to a 1-0 halftime lead. Sarah Rubio scored early in the second half to make it 2-0 before Garcia wrapped up the scoring just before the second half water break tallying her second goal of the night off an assist from Maddy Brouse.

▪ Class 3A state semifinal - Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin 4, North Broward Prep 2: The Eagles finished 16-5-1 after securing their first-ever trip to the state final four.

▪ Class 2A state semifinal - St. Johns Country Day 8, Westminster Academy 0: The Lions finished 10-9-2 after falling to the 10-time reigning state champions.

This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 8:25 AM.