Sophomore goalie’s remarkable run propels Cypress Bay girls to state soccer semifinals
It was only a month ago that sophomore Olivia Cicerelli was in the role of goalkeeper for the Cypress Bay junior varsity girls; soccer team.
Little did she know how things would change over the next 30 days or so.
After the Lightning’s season-long starting goalkeeper Gigi Soares went down with a season-ending injury at the end of the regular season, the inexperienced Cicerelli was thrown into the fire.
Cicerelli has come through, leading her team through districts and regionals, and on Wednesday night, made quality save after quality save in the second half to help Cypress Bay hang on to a 1-0 win at home over Stoneman Douglas in the Region 4-7A final.
Cypress Bay advances to its fifth consecutive state final four but a trip to a fifth straight title game will be a daunting task as it must travel to face St. Johns Bartram Trail, the state’s top overall seed and the No. 1-ranked team in the country according to Max Preps. Bartram Trail also beat the Lightning by a combined 9-0 in the 2020 and 21 state championship games.
“We knew what was coming, the girls saw it on the bracket but we didn’t talk about it much because we knew we had to win games just to get to that point,” Cypress Bay coach Kate Dwyer said. “I tried for a long time not to even bring it up because who knew we would even get to that point but now it’s in front of us so away we go. This time it’s different though because we’re going in as the clear underdog so we’ll just make the trip up there, have some fun and enjoy the ride.”
The trip north was never certain as Dwyer watched her team, after grabbing the lead on a Kelly Brouse goal 15 minutes before halftime, fail to record even a single shot on goal in the second half. Meanwhile the Eagles (16-2-1) peppered Cicerelli with shot after shot.
“It was really just about keeping everything in the moment and my brain was just focused on staying calm,” Cicerelli said. “To stay in the game and try and be there for my team. It was stressful for sure, especially at this level and this deep in the playoffs but I just did the best I could and fortunately that was good enough.”
In all, Cicerelli came through with a dozen saves, at least six of them falling into the “big-time” save category.
Douglas suffered through many frustrating moments including two times when they thought they had tied the game.
First game just 30 seconds before halftime when Grace Dykstra lined up a direct kick from 25 yards out and lined a perfect shot just over Cicerelli’s head only to see the ball bounce off the crossbar before being cleared.
Then came even more frustration when, following a corner kick and a series of loose ball rebounds in front of the net, Taylor Le finally got one past Cicerelli who was laying on the ground. But the whistle blew as the Eagles were called for offside nullifying the goal.
“It was very stressful but we had to keep communicating and make sure everyone stayed marked the entire time,” said Cypress Bay defender Kaitlin McCue who was busy clearing a lot of shots in the second half. “As soon as you give them space, they could turn and attack on us. So as long as we stayed tight, everyone came back and we worked together to keep them out of the net. Olivia really came through for us tonight.”
It’s been a rough stretch for Dwyer as she not only lost Soares but two other starters as well to season-ending injuries.
“How we’re here I’m not quite sure but these girls just keep pushing through,” Dwyer said. “We only have three starters playing from last year and the year before that we only had three starters coming back so it seems like we’re rebuilding every year. But these girls are buying in. Buying in to the work ethic that we may not be the most talented team out there but a team that finds a way to win.”