Zelnick’s goal and two assists propel University School girls’ soccer to regional finals

It didn’t matter that they were slow starters.

When push came to shove, the NSU University School girls’ soccer team knew just exactly how to ratchet things up when it really mattered the most.

The end result was a 3-2 victory over Gulliver Prep on Friday night in a Region 4-3A semifinal at University’s Auto Nation Field.

“I think the problem right now with this team is that we just think we can just show up, put the uniforms on, roll the ball out on the field and go win the game,” University School coach Diego Estemedoyro said. “And it’s just not that easy, especially this time of year when you get deep into the playoffs and the teams are really good. We beat this team 9-1 last year and I think our girls may have thought tonight would be more of the same. But Gulliver is a much better team than last year and fortunately we did enough tonight in order to move on.”

And move on the No. 2 seeded Sharks did, advancing to Wednesday’s Region 4-3A final where they will travel to take on top seeded and district rival Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons at 6 p.m. with a berth in the state final four at stake.

The game will be a rematch from two weeks ago when the two teams squared off in the district final in which Gibbons came from behind in the second half to win 2-1.

Leading the way for the Sharks (10-3-5) was sophomore forward Sadie Zelnick who scored the team’s first goal seven minutes before halftime to give her team a 1-0 lead at the break and then assisted on the other two in the second half.

“I feel like we started off really slow tonight but I think once we got a goal, we kind of came alive,” said Zelnick, who also hit the left post on a shot 10 minutes into the game. “It probably wasn’t our best night and we weren’t smart with the ball early on but once we brought the intensity up we were okay.”

Zelnick’s first-half goal came off an assist from McKenna Wickman but the No. 6 seeded Raiders, enjoying a nice comeback year after suffering through back-to-back seasons in which they failed to even qualify for the regional playoffs, had an answer.

It came 10 minutes into the second half when a loose ball bounced around in front of the net following a corner kick that freshman Elisa Senior got a foot on and knocked it home, tying the game at one.

But the excitement from the Gulliver bench over tying the contest was short-lived. Less then two minutes later the Sharks took the lead for good when Zelnick dropped a perfect ball in front of the net that Mia Herrera one-touched into the bottom right corner of the net.

University School added an insurance goal with 8:40 left that, as it turned out, the Sharks would need. It came when Zelnick again made a perfect pass down the right side that found Maya Buerger. When the Gulliver keeper came out of the net to meet her, Buerger popped it over her head into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 3-1.

Just two minutes later, the Raiders (12-7-2) made it a one-goal game again when Mia Sullivan rocketed a perfect ball in front of the net from the right side that Nora Henein was there to knock it home.

Gulliver pushed players forward to try and put pressure on the Sharks defense but University was up to the task as the Raiders were unable to generate any kind of quality scoring chance over the last six minutes.

“I think in the second half we picked up the intensity and Sadie played a big part in that,” Estemedoyro said. “You could tell she wanted to win the game and went out and got it.”

▪ Region 4-3A semifinal - Cardinal Gibbons 3, Coral Springs Charter 2: Caroline Findley scored two goals to lead the Chiefs (12-5-2) while Mia Conard had one. Emma Heim and Giuliana Serra each had an assist.

▪ Region 3-3A semifinal - Fort Myers Bishop Verot 2, North Broward Prep 1: The Eagles finish the season with a record of 12-4-2.

▪ Region 4-2A semifinal - Palmer Trinity 1, Boca Raton St. John Paul II 0: The Falcons (12-4-3) advanced to the regional finals for the first time in three seasons and will take on Ransom Everglades on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Lila Algarin scored the lone goal and Valentina Herrera recorded the shutout.

▪ Region 4-2A semifinal - Ransom Everglades 2, Boca Raton St. Andrews 0: The Raiders (13-4-3) advanced to the regional finals for the first time since 2003. Johanna “Jojo” James scored both goals and Addison Pollock recorded the shutout.

▪ Region 4-1A semifinal - Westwood Christian 1, West Palm Beach Berean Christian 1 (Westwood wins 3-2 PK): Camila Feliu scored the lone goal in regulation and Valeria Barrero had the assist. Goalkeeper Addison Decker made nine saves. The Warriors (12-1-2) will now travel to face South Florida HEAT at Tequesta Trace Park at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

▪ Region 4-1A semifinal - South Florida HEAT 6, Sheridan Hills Christian 0: HEAT (15-7) advances to the regional finals for the fourth consecutive season.

This story was originally published February 15, 2025 at 8:03 AM.