Cypress Bay girls’ soccer attacks but comes up short in Class 5A championship
Having had to play in the giant shadow of the success of the boys program for the last 10 years, the Cypress Bay girls’ soccer team was making its debut in the state title game late Friday afternoon.
The Lightning girls were hoping to carve out a little history of their own and hang their own championship banner.
But that wait will have to continue as Cypress Bay dropped a frustrating 1-0 decision to Palm Harbor University in the 5A state championship game at Spec Martin Stadium.
Frustrating because Lightning players along with head coach Kate Dwyer felt like they more or less outplayed PHU, especially the last 10 minutes when they applied the full-court press and had numerous chances to score the equalizer.
But it never came as the Hurricanes (18-1), who didn’t even win their own district and came all the way through the back door as a district runner-up, hung on to capture their sixth state title overall and first since 2010.
“We felt like we dominated 80 percent of that game but that’s how it works in soccer sometimes. You can do that and just not find the net,” said Dwyer. “They (Palm Harbor) hit one corner off the post and that turns out to be the difference in the game – tough, real tough.”
Dwyer referred to the game’s only goal, which came just before the first-half water break when Palm Harbor’s Brittany Kane lined up a corner kick. Kane connected and had a perfect draw hook on the shot which went just inches over the outstretched hands of Cypress keeper Milan Dewkanindan and then bounced off the right post and into the net.
“That was so huge because we always tell our girls just put up the ball in the first five minutes and everything is on your shoulders and you’re riding the wave,” said Dwyer. “Unfortunately that’s exactly what they (Palm Harbor) did and once they scored they packed the back. They had about seven girls back there and we just couldn’t get in behind them until those last few minutes. I can’t count all the chances we had then.”
The Lightning, which brought a near perfect 18-0-1 mark into the game were ranked No. 7 in the nation by Max Preps, were not able to generate much offense the remainder of the first half but stepped things up in the second half, clearly winning time of possession but not being able to create a ton of quality chances because PHU had dropped so many players back.
That changed in the last five minutes as Cypress really applied the pressure and appeared to have gotten the equalizer with two-and-a-half minutes left.
Forward Maya Gordon managed to get free down low and turn on a shot from a severe angle that appeared headed in. But the ball bounced off the right post. Even then, the rebound came out and Megan Morgan, the team’s leading scorer with 23 goals, thought she had her 24th as she had a wide open net.
But Hurricanes keeper Cameron Laine dove at the last second to meet her and managed to get a piece of the ball causing it to carom up over the crossbar.
“It was a breathtaking moment,” said Morgan. “I was right there and thought I had it but the keeper just barely got there and got a piece of it. This is just really tough right now because we kind of felt like we outplayed them a little bit but just couldn’t get one in the net and ultimately that’s what you have to do.”
Said Dwyer: “Eight seniors won’t be easy to replace but we’ve still got 10 juniors that will step in next year so we’re not done. It was great that we finally made it to a state final and it’s been tough because to be honest, we’re a public school and it’s hard to fight against the likes of Lourdes, St. Thomas (Aquinas), Archbishop (McCarthy) and Heritage. All these girls belong at our school – they’re zoned for our school so I can’t be more proud of them right now for what they accomplished even though we came up a goal short.”