NSU University School girls’ soccer clinches return to state, ends Edison’s dream season
Through highs and lows, NSU University School’s girls’ soccer team has stayed the course this season.
The Sharks have sometimes even persevered with emotional roller coasters within the same game.
It happened on Wednesday night when sophomore Shayla DelaCruz gave her team a thrill by scoring a goal just three minutes into its regional championship game against Miami Edison.
And then 24 minutes later, there was anguish as DelaCruz was forced to leave the game with an apparent knee injury.
But once again, the Sharks kept their composure and punched a return ticket to the state final four following a gritty 2-0 victory over the visiting Red Raiders in the Region 4-3A final at AutoNation Field in Davie.
“I think our mentality has been great,” University sophomore midfielder Bianca Raskin said. “We thought we were going to come back stronger than ever. We’re doing things even better than last year.”
Raskin made a great play when she controlled a ball from junior forward Annie Levine and buried home a key insurance goal with nine minutes remaining to effectively seal the outcome.
University School (15-3) will now return to state for the second consecutive season and is the No. 3 seed, taking on No. 2 seed Merritt Island Edgewood next Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale.
The Sharks finished state runner-up in 2023 to Montverde Academy after having never even won a regional playoff game prior to last season. Montverde is the top seed this year and faces Gainesville P.K. Yonge in the other semifinal.
“The hardest thing has been the injuries,” University School coach Diego Estremedoyro said. “(Delacruz)’s injury was the third ACL injury we’ve had this year. But the girls, even the ones that haven’t played a lot, continue to step up.”
The loss ended a remarkable season for Edison (16-1), which suffered its first defeat of the season after advancing to the regional finals for the first time in program history. Edison had never even won a regional playoff game before this season and had not even advanced to regionals since 1990. The Red Raiders won their first GMAC title, second district title ever and recorded their first two regional playoff wins.
But the dream of making it to state for the first time was thwarted by a stingy NSU University School defense.
Raskin said the Sharks didn’t know much about the Red Raiders heading into the contest other than they had beaten Ransom Everglades, a team that beat University School during the regular season.
DelaCruz’s early goal forced Edison to play more aggressively and try to create chances. But the Sharks’ defense did not allow the Red Raiders to put together many quality opportunities and stifled most of Edison’s attacks before they became real threats to score.
“When the injury happened, these girls were in tears,” Estremedoyro said. “We had to calm them down as coaches and they came back and responded.”
Region 4-4A final - Delray American Heritage 2, Cardinal Gibbons 0: The Chiefs finish the season with a 10-7-3 record.
