American Heritage, Lourdes, University advance to state girls’ soccer finals
After a pair of hard-fought, emotional wins over Merritt Island and Archbishop McCarthy in the regional round, it probably was no surprise that the Plantation American Heritage girls’ soccer team came out a little bit flat on Friday night.
But once they got rolling, thanks to a huge night from sophomore Sami Villaverde, the Patriots cruised to a 6-0 victory over Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek in a Class 5A state semifinal at Heritage’s home field.
The Patriots are back in a place they used to frequent quite often but had not been to in four years - the state championship game.
Ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 5A, Heritage (17-2-2) will head north to Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand to take on Cape Coral Mariner on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. in search of the program’s 12th state title.
After the team’s went to the first half water break still scoreless, Villaverde and the rest of her teammates got a pep talk from assistant coach Lito Garro and it worked.
Just two minutes after the water break, she scored and just eight minutes after that, scored again to give her team a 2-0 lead at the break.
Villaverde wasn’t done. She came out and popped two more in over the first 12 minutes of the second half to make it 4-0 and it was all over but the shouting for the Patriots.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had four goals in one game ever,” said Villaverde who now leads the team with 26 goals this season. “I guess I picked a good night to do it because we were a little slow coming out of the gate early on.”
Heaven knows if she would’ve scored any more as she came out of the game at that point as Garro started substituting freely.
“We were definitely a little flat coming out but just had to remind them that they’ve got to finish things and I reminded them of that during the first half water break,” Garro said. “Then they responded as we got a quick goal from Sami after that and then a second one a few minutes later to go up two and we were good after that. Sami is unbelievable. We’re so lucky and fortunate that she’s on “our” side and we don’t have to face her on the other side. She definitely came through for us tonight and really got us going when we needed a spark.”
Amanda Caines and Rachel Kessler recorded the other two goals for Heritage. Perhaps the most bored two players on the field all night were Heritage starting goalkeeper Jillian Miliffe and her backup Regan River as Cypress Creek (15-6), making its first ever appearance in a state final four, didn’t record a single shot on goal all night.
“Once we came off the field at the water break, we had a little pep talk,” said Villaverde. “We told ourselves that we’re playing for each other out here, playing for our seniors, playing for our coach and we came out and got things going. Once we got those two goals to go up at halftime we had the momentum and then we came out and got two more to go up four and we were good to go.”
The coach Villaverde referred to was the team’s long-time head coach Cindy Marcial, who was serving the second of her two-game suspension after being ejected from the Merritt Island game. Marcial is expected to be back on the sidelines for the title game.
“Everybody wanted to do this for Coach Cindy tonight,” Garro said. “At the end of the day, all the coaches and players, we’re all one team pulling in the same direction. Nothing changes and the system that she has put in place here is what makes this whole thing go. The fact that we were able to get this done these last two games without her on the sideline is a credit to her and the system she has put in place. She makes us believe. Now we’ll get her back for the championship game.”
LOURDES BACK AT STATE
It’s been an emotional journey for Lourdes all season.
The Bobcats have been playing inspired soccer in tribute to teammate Katy Puig, who suffered serious injuries in a tragic boating accident last September that claimed the life of fellow Lourdes student Lucy Fernandez.
The Bobcats will have a chance for the final chapter of this season to be a happy one next week after securing a trip back to the state finals.
Lourdes did so in dominant fashion on Friday night when it beat Land ‘O Lakes Sunlake 6-1 in a Class 6A state semifinal at Columbus High.
The Bobcats (18-1-2) advanced to the state finals for the fourth consecutive season and will try to win their first state title since 2020 when they take on Gulf Breeze in the finals at 4 p.m. next Friday at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.
“I am so proud of this team, as a coach I couldn’t ask for more hard working individuals that set an objective for a special someone,” Lourdes coach David Fique said. “And for us, for these girls, for our school, for our community, we’re going to work hard next Friday because we know it will be a tough game. But we’ll be ready.”
Mia Roca led Lourdes’ scoring barrage with two goals while Alex Diaz, Lorena Alvarez, Sienna Aviles and Tessa Abreu each scored one. Abreu also had an assist as did Lauren Garcia, Antonella Monsalve and Coco Aguilar.
▪ Class 3A state semifinal - NSU University 1, Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin 1 (University won 5-4 on penalty kicks): The Sharks (15-3-3) continued their best ever season by earning their first trip to the state finals. University will take on Montverde Academy on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. Bianca Raskin, Giana Sanchez, Mckenna Wickman and Reese Sobol all converted penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Avril Ramirez made two saves.
▪ Class 7A state semifinal - Jacksonville Bartram Trail 1, Cypress Bay 0: The Lightning’s string of four consecutive seasons advancing to the state finals was snapped on the road. Cypress Bay finishes 18-3.
▪ Class 2A state semifinal - St. Johns Country Day 8, True North 0: The Titans (14-4) made their first ever appearance in a state semifinal.
This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 12:16 AM.