Gulliver prep girls’ soccer loses in state 2A semifinals
Giving up a goal in the first three minutes of any soccer game is never good. Doing it on the big stage of a state semifinal contest against a quality opponent is even worse.
And a bad start for the Gulliver Prep girls’ soccer team only got worse on Tuesday night as the Raiders, after falling behind in just the third minute of the game, never recovered and dropped a 4-0 decision to Orlando Bishop Moore in a Class 2A state semifinal at Melbourne High School.
Making their first trip to state since 2013, the Raiders were hoping to win the program’s second-ever state title (the other coming in 2011) but that opportunity will go to the No. 6 state ranked Hornets who moved their record to 21-1-2 and will take on Jacksonville Bolles in the 2A title game Wednesday at 9 p.m. Bolles edged Tampa Holy Names 2-1 in the early semifinal.
“That first goal broke our momentum early,” said Gulliver head coach Andrew Vassell. “We made a bad defensive error and when that happens, you just feel like you’re playing uphill from there and you simply cannot do that against a very good team like Bishop Moore. A very fast, strong and physical team like that is going to make you pay and they did.”
Gulliver (16-3-1) found Bishop Moore senior and East Carolina commit Mari Shurina the biggest thorn to deal with all night. Shurina not only scored that first goal in the game’s third minute when Gulliver keeper Nina Fernandez came out of the net too late and Shurina beat her to a loose ball to knock it home, but she did it again 12:22 before the half to make it 2-0.
Shurina, who recorded her 38th and 39th goals on the season, darn near scored a third a few minutes later but the ball glanced off the crossbar.
Gulliver struggled the entire first half to get any offensive chances but finally had a golden one with less than a minute left in the half.
That’s when junior forward Samantha Earle split two Bishop Moore defenders down the middle and was in a race with BM keeper Sarah Doyle to the loose ball and got there first. She then knocked it over Doyle’s head toward the empty net the but the ball went just inches over the crossbar.
“I saw the goalie coming out and knew I could get to the ball first but instead of hitting it footside, I hit it laces and it caused the ball to go a little higher on me and just barely over the crossbar,” said Earle. “That would’ve been huge for us. It would’ve made it 2-1 and given us a little momentum going into halftime.”
Earle came close again just five minutes into the second half when she got to a loose ball in front of the net but Doyle made a diving save to keep the Raiders off the board.
Bishop Moore, which will go for its sixth state title but first since 2007 against Bolles, then started to put things away when Carolyne Davidson scored with 31:04 left to make it 3-0 and popped another one in with just under 20 minutes left to wrap up the scoring.
“Nothing’s ever good when you fall behind that early in the game,” said Fernandez. “But we fought hard all season to get here so while we’re disappointed with the outcome tonight, we’re still proud of what we accomplished.”
Said Vassell: “I’m still very proud of the girls in what they accomplished. I had to bring six girls from the eighth grade during the season because we were very depleted this year so they gave everything they had and I got about as much out of them as I could.”
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
▪ District 15-8A — Columbus 77, Ferguson 68: COL: Pace 27, Cooper 22, Mata 11, Mas 6, Rodriguez 6, Davis 4, Sosa 1. FER: Smith 21, Osceola 18, Gonzalez 14, Perez 7. Three-pointers: Pace 5. Rebounds: Cooper 15. Assists: Mata 5.
▪ District 16-3A — Palmer Trinity 47, Miami Community Charter 41: PT (11-13) Montalvo 17, Diaz 10, Cuellar 9, Devine 4, Waldman 4, Alston 2, Friedland 1. MCC (7 -11): Brewster 11, Apleby 9, Carter 8, Conde 5, Ogletree 3, Grier 3 HT: PT 18-15.Three-pointers: Montalvo 3, Cuellar 3. Rebounds: Brewster 14. Steals: Montalvo 3. Assists: Diaz 2, Cuellar 2.
▪ District 16-8A — Coral Reef 64, South Dade 45: CR: Bryan 20, Boria 12, Vreones 10, Holcombe 8, Ruiz 4, Perez 2, Cannady 6, Arabitg 2. SD: Peneton 16, J Lipscomb 7, Gamble 3, Wilborn 2, G Lipscomb 2, Gilbert 3, Hankerson 5, Fuey 4, Chambers 2, Peart 1. Rebounds: Holcombe 13. Assists: Perez 4, Holcombe 4. Steals: Bryan 5.
▪ District 13-3A — Dade Christian 50, Hialeah Educational 27: DC (19-7): Hurt 5, Henri 6, Terry 4, Stephenson 4, J. Fitzgerald 2, Smith 2, Ingraham 2, Abadi 15, L. Fitzgerald 10. HEA: Cedeno 10, Torres 1, St. Clair 10, Lara 4. HT: DC 22-11. Assists: Hurt 4, Stephenson 4. Steals: J. Fitzgerald 5. Rebounds: L. Fitzgerald 13.
▪ Other Scores: District 13-3A — Somerset Central 63, Posnack 42. District 13-8A — Flanagan 64, West Broward 57. District 16-3A — Somerset Academy 49, Marathon 45. District 15-7A — Nova 65, South Broward 47.
SOFTBALL
▪ Palmer Trinity 18, Colonial Christian 7:WP: Vicky Torres (1-0). PT 1-0. Top Performers: Vicky Torres 7 K's. Allison Galgano 3-3. Dani de Sola 2-3.
▪ Southridge 12, Killian 1:WP: Alyssa Fonda (1-0) 11 K’s 0BB. Top Performers: Alyssa Fonda 2-3, 2 R. Britney Campbell 1-2, 2 R. Casilyn Fraga 1-2, 2 R. SR 1-0.
▪ Coral Reef 15, Homestead 0:WP: Rebecca Sutton 1-0, 4 K’s. Top performers: Carolina Colli 2-2, 2 RBI. Amanda Grullon 2-2, 2 RBI. Katerina Boix 2-2, 6 K’s. CR 1-0.
▪ TERRA 10, Braddock 0: WP: Veronnica Sanchez. Top-Performers: Tayler Sanchez, Emma Tabares, Aaliyah Jolly.
BASEBALL
▪ Pro Grounds Classic — Killian 8, Reagan 2:WP: Andrew Schreiber. Top Performers: Eddy Arteaga 2-3 2B. Kevin Castillo 2-3 2B. Brian Ozuna 1-2, RS.
▪ Booker T Washington 15, Central 5:Top Performers: Tevin Mackey 3 IP, 6K. Kevin Rodriguez 2 IP, 4K. Juan Guzman 1-1, 2BB, 3R. Wilbur Fabian 1-2, BB
BOYS’ TENNIS
▪ American Heritage Plantation 5, University School 2: 1. Zack Ebenfeld 9-7. 2. Romare Gonzalez 8-5. 3. Lorenzo Lamo 8-4. 4. Adam Duan 8-4. 5. Saloman Slatkoff 8-4. Doubles: 1.Ebenfeld,Lamo 8-1. 2.Zager,Milgrim 8-5.
▪ Miami Springs 7, Mater Academy 0: 1. Cory Harrington 8-0. 2. Brent Cates 8-0. 3. Adrian Perez 8-0. Doubles: Cates/ Winchester 8-3.
▪ Gulliver 4, Sagemont 3: 1. Andre Libnic 8-2. 3. Nico Ramirez 8-3. 4. Christian Otero 8-3.
▪ Mourning 7, Carol City 0: 1. Tom Jaworski (ATM) 8-0, 2. Santiago Uribe (ATM) 8-0, 3. Eduard Luca (ATM) 8-0. ATM 1-0.
▪ La Salle 7, St. Brendan 0: Sebastian Felder 8-0. Simon Ribas 8-0. Yvan Martinez 8-0. Doubles:Felder, Youseff 8-0.
▪ Pine Crest d. Boca Raton: 1. Christian Alshan (BR) 8-1. 2. Samuel Dern (PC) 8-2. 3. Daniel Gale (PC) 8-2. 4. Sergey Golovnev (PC) 8-1. 5. Chris Kotite (PC) 8-3. 6. Parsa Hoghooghi (PC) 8-5. Doubles:Dern,Seckler (PC) 8-4.
GIRLS’ TENNIS
▪ Reagan 5, Coral Reef 2: 1. Jennifer Arias (RR) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8. 2. Anabella Neri (RR) 6-1, 6-1. 3. Nicole Uzcategui (RR) 6-0, 6-2. 4. Bruna Decerega (CR) 6-4, 6-2. 5. Claudia Jacobo (CR) 6-2, 6-2. Doubles: 1. Neri, Uzcategui (RR) 8-2. 2. Garcia,Urbano (RR) 8-3. RR 1-0.
▪ American Heritage Plantation 6, University School 1: 1. Kaylee Witschen8-4. 2. Ronia Dolabany8-0. 3. Isabella Chinchilla 8-0. 4. Anya Gunewardena 8-2. 5. Lauren Williams default. Doubles: 1.Gottlieb,Rossi 8-4. 2. Williams,Gunewardena 8-1.
▪ La Salle 6, St. Brendan 1: Laura Noyes 8-0. Clara Alvarez-Alonso 8-0. Maya Fayad 8-0. Nicole Chavarria 8-1. Doubles: Clara Alvarez-Alonso, Maya Fayad 8-0. Nicole Chavarria, Karla Perez 8-0.
▪ Miami Springs 6, Mater Academy 1: 1. Valery Mardini 8-0. 2. Erica Bradley8-4. 3. Monica Chavez 8-2. 4. Kelly Alvarez8-0. 5. Katherine Salinas 8-4. Doubles: Mardini/ Chavez 8-2.
▪ Pine Crest d. Boca Raton: 1. Clare McKee (BR) 8-3. 2. Demi Snyder (PC) 8-5. 3. Carly Feldman (PC) 8-3. 4. Danielle Schecter (PC) 8-2. 5. Sophia Marchetta (PC) 8-2. 6. Abigail Tartell (PC) 8-1.
▪ Mourning 7, Carol City 0: 1. Paola Carbonara (ATM) 8-1, 2. Natalia Rodriguez (ATM) 8-0, 3. Andje Louis (ATM) 8-0. ATM 1-0.
▪ Ransom 6, Lourdes 1: 1. Heather Boehm 8-0. 2. Vivien Fernandez 8-4. 3. Marina Patagonia 8-1. RE 1-0.
▪ Gulliver 7, Sagemont 0: 1. Julieta Dalmau 8-0. 2. Lindy Lyons 8-1. 3. Tatiana Ramirez 8-2. 4. Sasha Kolesnikova 8-1. 5. Bianca Corgan 8-2.
This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 10:56 PM with the headline "Gulliver prep girls’ soccer loses in state 2A semifinals."