Archbishop McCarthy girls’ soccer repeats playoff success against rival Pines Charter

After playing 100 minutes of scoreless soccer and deciding the match in penalty kicks in last week’s district final, it only figured that when the Pembroke Pines Charter and Archbishop McCarthy girls’ soccer teams met again Friday night, it would be more of the same.

Fortunately for the Mavericks, who won that district championship game, they turned the trick again.

Thanks to a pair of misfires by the Jaguars during the shootout round, McCarthy managed to edge out Pines Charter 4-3 on PKs in a Region 4-5A semifinal before a large, noisy crowd at McCarthy High School.

The top-seeded Mavericks (21-1), who are ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 5A, advanced to next Tuesday’s regional final where they will host No. 2 seed Plantation American Heritage, the No. 2 ranked team in the state, at 7 p.m.

American Heritage shut out Merritt Island 2-0 in the opposite semifinal.

“We could go out and play them again tomorrow and it might just be the same thing again, a hundred minutes of soccer and PKs,” McCarthy coach Mike Sica said. “Both of these teams are so evenly matched and one is not significantly better than the other. For our girls I just told them that great teams need to find a way to win even when they don’t play well. We played okay tonight but not nearly what we’re capable of and we’re going to need to step it up on Tuesday if we want to beat a team like Heritage.”

After both teams struggled last week in the penalty kick shootout (McCarthy only scored twice but won 2-1 as the Jaguars missed multiple shots), this time both teams were on target, at least for the first five shots.

But when PPC’s Alexandra Moscoso rifled one high over the crossbar, the Mavericks led 3-2 after three. Each team nailed their fourth shots before Brisa Sastre stepped up with a chance to clinch it for the Mavericks with their fifth attempt. But Pines Charter keeper Madison Casanova made a nice save extending the game.

Madison Martone came up for the Jaguars with a chance to extend things to a sixth frame but her shot bounced off the crossbar prompting a wild McCarthy celebration at midfield.

It was the fourth consecutive season that these two teams squared off in the regional semifinals with McCarthy, which made three consecutive trips to the state final (winning the title in 2020) winning the first two before falling last year.

“Honestly this was as tough as it’s ever been against them,” McCarthy goalkeeper Paloma Peña, a senior and University of Florida commit, said. “We’ve been in so many battles with this team throughout my career and this rivalry, it’s just been really tough. All of us are friends, we play club together so we knew tonight would be just like districts last week. Thankfully we found a way to come out on top again.”

Sica and Pines Charter coach Lyndon Lemmers watched as their girls went at it for 80 minutes of regulation and 20 more of overtime without finding the back of the net.

The first half was devoid of any kind of scoring chances before things picked up in the second half.

Pines Charter’s best chance came with 23 minutes left in regulation when senior forward Kaitlin Fernandez lined up a free kick from 40 yards out. With a powerful right leg, she rocketed a line shot that was on goal and over a leaping Peña’s outstretched hands. But the ball bounced off the crossbar and back out into play before being cleared.

McCarthy’s best chance came just two minutes before the game went to penalty kicks when Michaela Carter took a pass down low and found herself all alone to the right of the net against Casanova only to see her shot go just inches to the left of the left post.

“There’s just always so much emotion and intensity when we get together with Pines,” Carter said. “As a team we just bond together and make sure we lift each other up and have each other’s backs no matter what. Tonight we got through it together.”

MORE RESULTS

▪ Region 4-7A semifinal - Cypress Bay 1, Doral Academy 0: On the strength of a second-half goal, the Lightning (17-2) advanced and will next host Stoneman Douglas on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the regional finals. Cypress Bay won its 15th consecutive match and has made it to the state finals four consecutive times. Doral finishes 11-6-2.

▪ Region 4-7A semifinal - Stoneman Douglas 2, Palmetto 0: Freshman Breanna Gordon and junior Layla Segelnick each scored goals while sophomore Emma McGregor and freshman Jacqueline Destefano each had an assist for the Eagles (16-1-1). Palmetto finishes 16-4-2.

▪ Region 4-6A semifinal - Lourdes 5, Fort Lauderdale 0: Coco Aguilar led the Bobcats (16-1-2) with two goals and an assist. Tessa Abreu, Mia Roca and Antonella Monsalve each had a goal. Kaylee Sanchez, Sienna Aviles, Amanda Sofia Maceiras and Rebecca Sampedro each had an assist. Lourdes, which has advanced to three consecutive state finals and last won the championship in 2020, will next host St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the regional final. Lourdes defeated St. Thomas in penalty kicks in the regional finals in 2020 and 2021. Fort Lauderdale finishes 11-7-3.

▪ Region 4-6A semifinal - St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Cooper City 0: Romania Witek, Gabrielle Stewart and Miranda Dumornay each scored goals to lead the Raiders (14-3-2). Madison Poleo had two assists. Aquinas is seeking its first trip to the state semifinals since 2017. Cooper City finishes 12-6-2.

▪ Region 4-5A semifinal - American Heritage 2, Merritt Island 0: Sami Villaverde and Camila Domine each scored to lead the Patriots (15-2-2). Courtney Caruso and Zahira Freeman each had an assist. Heritage is seeking its first trip to the state final four since winning a championship in 2019.

▪ Region 4-4A semifinals - Somerset Canyons 1, Cardinal Gibbons 0; Delray American Heritage 2, North Broward Prep 0.

▪ Region 4-3A semifinal - University School 3, Miami Country Day 2: Taylor Smith, Bianca Raskin and Sadie Zelnick each had one goal to lead the Sharks (13-3-3). Miami Country Day finishes 12-6-2.

▪ Region 4-3A semifinal - Westminster Christian 1, Palmer Trinity 0: The Warriors (9-6-1) advanced to the regional finals where they will play at University School Tuesday at 7. Palmer Trinity finishes 13-3-1.

▪ Region 4-2A semifinal - South Florida HEAT 5, Westminster Academy 0: South Florida HEAT (18-6-2) will next face True North on Tuesday at 3:30 at Tequesta Trace Park.

▪ Region 4-2A semifinal - True North 6, Glades Day 1: The Titans improve to 13-3.

This story was originally published February 11, 2023 at 8:39 AM.