True North secures return trip to girls’ soccer state finals on freshman’s hat trick

There were no hats for Aailyah Perez to don when the final whistle blew.

But the freshman star for the True North Classical Academy girls’ soccer team didn’t care. She just wanted to go celebrate with her teammates because there was a lot to celebrate.

Perez scored three goals, the proverbial “hat trick,” to lead her No. 1-seeded Titans to a convincing 5-2 victory over South Florida HEAT in a Region 4-2A final on Wednesday afternoon at Kendall Soccer Park.

The win advanced the True North girls to their second consecutive state final four. And with the state having returned to its neutral site final four format, the Titans will head to Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale for a 2A state semifinal onTuesday where they will face defending 2A state champion Lakeland Christian at 10 a.m.

But nobody was worried about who was next on the schedule after the game. All the Titans wanted to do was enjoy the moment with their regional trophy and post for photos in front of the net.

“At first I was a little nervous but then after I got that first goal that gave us the lead back, I just started playing free and not thinking about what other people think and away we went,” said Perez who was a Miami Herald first team All-County selection a year ago as an eighth grader at Doral Academy before transferring to True North. “I’m just here to help my team any way I can and if it’s scoring goals, great. If it’s dishing off to somebody else, great. Whatever I can do to help this team win is what I love to do and today was great for everybody.”

And dishing off an assist is exactly what Perez did that gave the Titans (13-2-2) their first goal in the game’s 12th minute when she crossed a pass to Malen Gonzalez, one of a half dozen eighth graders on the roster, in front of the net and Gonzalez popped it home for a 1-0 lead.

The lead lasted for less than 20 seconds. Perhaps still celebrating from the goal, True North got caught napping on defense. On the ensuing center field faceoff Melina Ramos dumped a deep ball down in front of the net that gave Olivia Diez a one-on-one with True North keeper Gabriela Keiser and Diez knocked it home.

But the quick equalizer did nothing to rattle Perez or her True North teammates. Just after the first half water break, senior forward Aliyana Henry beat South Florida defender Priscilla Cardichon around the corner and centered a perfect ball to Perez who right-footed it past HEAT keeper Lea Dantzker to put the Titans up for good.

Eight minutes later, it was the same combination, Henry-to-Perez again to make it 3-1 at the break. Ten minutes into the second half, Reagan Elaine Hood, another eighth grader, turned on a shot from 25 yards out and rifled a perfect ball just under the cross bar and just over the outstretched arms of Dantzker to make it 4-1 and it was just about over.

HEAT didn’t quit as forwards Diez and Kaedy Plante worked hard to force the action and created three quality scoring chances forcing Keiser to make three quality saves to keep her team ahead by three.

But when Diez broke loose for a one-on-one opportunity with 16 minutes left, Kaiser couldn’t save that one as Diez knocked it home and it was 4-2 giving South Florida life.

But Perez wasn’t about to let things slip away. Three minutes later, she bobbed and weaved, beating a pair of HEAT defenders down low and knocked her third one past Dantzker to complete the scoring. It was another frustrating end for South Florida HEAT which finished 23-3-2 and has never been to the state final four while dropping its third straight regional final and second straight to True North.

“Aailyah’s an absolute motor, a real beast out there,” said True North coach Alex Abaroa, who launched this young program four years ago. “She came out this week possessed, wanted to prove to everybody who she was. Came out for extra training, did the extra stuff this week and I knew before the game she was going to be ready.”