McCarthy girls soccer three wins from perfect season after regional semi win over Aquinas
It’s tough to beat the St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ soccer team once in a year, let alone twice.
But three times? That’s almost unheard of.
Don’t tell that to Archbishop McCarthy. The Mavericks completed the hat trick against the Raiders on Friday night with a 1-0 win in a Region 4-4A semifinal contest at Archbishop McCarthy to keep their perfect season alive and move three wins away from capping off a perfect season and winning the program’s first state title. Next up: A regional final against West Boca Raton, which defeated Suncoast 5-2.
“They know that in the regional tournament, everyone is undefeated. It doesn’t matter. If you lose, you go home,” Archbishop McCarthy coach Mike Sica said. “Records prior to the regional tournament mean nothing. Three more games. ... The stakes get higher and the teams get tougher, but that’s it.”
Archbishop, which improved to a 23-0-0, won the first two meetings of the year against St. Thomas Aquinas 3-0 on Nov. 28 and 2-1 on Jan. 28 in the district championship.
The third time around proved to be a much tougher fight. The game was scoreless at the half despite the Mavericks dominating possession and having a handful of scoring chances in the opening 40 minutes.
“Obviously the game was close,” Sica said. “I believe we controlled a good portion of the game. ... We just kept pushing.”
It finally paid off in the 61st minute when junior Nadia Colon sent a corner kick into the box that ricocheted off a couple players and landed in front of sophomore defender Kimberly Cover, who tapped the ball in for her first goal of the season and for what ultimately proved to be the game winner.
“Sometimes we let her go, sometimes we don’t depending on the situation,” Sica said. “We said ‘Let’s go for it.’ We put her up there and she found a way to score.”
And with this team, one goal is usually enough. Friday’s win was Archbishop McCarthy’s 17th shutout in 23 matches. They’ve outscored their opponents 95-8 this season.
“Defensively, from goalkeeper to the back four to the whole midfield, we have 100 percent confidence,” Sica said. “We’re not worried about giving up goals. You have to pay attention to it obviously, but for the most part if we can get a goal or two, I like our chances.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2019 at 9:26 PM.
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