History repeats itself for American Heritage as it secures another state title in PKs
Pressure?
For Jillian Milffe, it was just a matter of “been there, done that.”
Nearly a year to the day after she made a pair of diving saves in a penalty kick shootout win over Cape Coral Mariner that gave her team the 5A state title, the Plantation American Heritage goalie went out there and pulled it off again.
Following her third diving save of a PK shootout that went eight rounds (three beyond the standard five), Milffe found herself behind mobbed by her euphoric teammates as they rushed the field to celebrate with her, practically tackling her when they arrived.
Her third save gave the Heritage girls a 5-4 victory in PKs over North Fort Myers after the two teams had battled to a 2-2 overtime tie in the Class 5A state championship game on Friday evening at Spec Martin Stadium. Milffe immediately led the charge over to the stands so the ecstatic Patriot players could celebrate with their fans.
“Wow, I can’t believe this, just like last year,” Milffe said. “I’ve learned to always trust my gut when it comes to making saves. That’s my big thing. Look at the way the ball is placed by the player and go with your gut. Always trust your instincts.”
Milffe’s instinct was that, with her teammate Camila Domine having just converted her PK in the eighth stanza to put the Patriots back up by one, that North Fort Myers’ Kinsley Seidl would go right with her kick.
Seidl went right, Milffe dove left and the ball deflected away giving the Heritage girls program its 13th state title which trails only St. Thomas Aquinas (15) and Orange Park St. Johns Country Day (14) for the most.
It’s also a program that has now branded itself nearly unbeatable in championship games as well, now sporting a 13-3 record in the finals.
“Jill’s amazing, our MVP,” said Heritage coach Cindy Marcial, who now has coached the Patriots to seven of those 13 titles. “We start practicing these things two months ahead of this, and you saw why that hard work paid off tonight.”
The fact that Heritage (16-3-1) was even in an overtime battle was a stunner in itself after blowing a two-goal lead in the second half - a rarity for the Patriots.
After a goal by Allison Aleman just five minutes before halftime gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead at the break, Amanda Caines popped another one in three minutes into the second half to make it 2-0 and that appeared to be that. But nobody bothered to inform the Red Knights.
Making their state championship game debut and having already stunned top-ranked Cape Coral Mariner in the regional finals, North Fort Myers (18-4), despite not having recorded a single shot on goal against a stout Heritage defense to that point, kept plugging away.
When they finally got their first shot on goal in a rare Heritage defensive breakdown, they made it count. After defender Zahira Freeman whiffed on a clearing shot, Hannah Busenbark was right there in front to knock it past Milffe to slice the lead in half with 26:14 left.
Now down only one, North Fort Myers had renewed energy and momentum in the game shifted. But with five minutes left, the Pats were still clinging to that one goal lead. North Fort Myers’ Sophia Kerns got to a loose ball about 30 yards out from the net, turned, and right footed a perfect shot that barely cleared Milffe’s hands and went just under the crossbar tying the game with 4:41 left.
“It is what it is, it happened and we had to find a way to deal with it,” Marcial said. “That’s where the heart and soul of these girls came into play. Trying to regain your composure when something like that happens is hard to do but these girls found a way. That’s what Heritage soccer is all about.”
Indeed, perhaps the five-minute break in between regulation and overtime might’ve helped as the Patriots came out and started dominating play again. Even though they wound up not scoring in either 10-minute overtime period, led by junior forward Jordyn Norwood, they started putting major pressure on Red Knight keeper Brooke Hankinson.
“Obviously when you’re winning by two goals in the second half and wind up getting tied, that’s very upsetting but it was up to us at that moment to somehow find a way to get it turned back around in our direction,” Caines said. “We had dominated possession most of the game so we felt we were the dominating team. When we went over (during the break before O)T) our coach talked to us building us up, we talked too each other to build ourselves up and that’s what you do as a team. It worked.”
Asked how she handles all the pressure of having he weight of winning a state title for her team for the second year in a dropped on her shoulders, Milffe didn’t hesitate with an answer.
“Pressure? I used to feel it but not anymore,” Milffe said. “I just kind of somehow manage to insulate myself from all of that and try not to think about any of it. You just have to find a zone and stay focused on what you have to do. Block everything else out and that’s what I did. I owed that much to my teammates.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 9:03 PM.