Lourdes soccer team shines in the pouring rain to clinch return trip to state final

Lourdes Academy proved slippery and dangerous when wet.

Lourdes slipped and slid its way into the Class 5A state championship game with a 5-1 semifinal win over Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek on Wednesday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

After almost 34 minutes of scoreless soccer, the skies opened up and began pouring buckets of rain down on the field, which is when the Lourdes offense opened up and responded with two quick goals in a period of one minute and five seconds to take a 2-0 lead.

“This is super huge. I am super excited and I know we can (win the state title),” Lourdes junior midfielder Nicole Lee said. “Obviously the external factors affected us, but I trusted my girls with me, and they pushed and we kept going. We played until the end of the game.”

With the win, Lourdes (16-1-2) advances into the 5A state championship game to face Ponte Vedra Saturday at 1 p.m.

Ponte Vedra advanced after holding off North Fort Myers 2-1 in an earlier semifinal. The state berth marks the third time in the past four seasons, Lourdes has reached the state title game.

“We lost the past two times but we are hoping this is the one,” said Lourdes fourth-year head coach David Fique, who was part of two Lourdes state championship teams as an assistant coach during the past eight years. “In a way we were blessed with the rain. I think we capitalized in moments when we really needed it.”

Antonella Monsalve opened up the scoring for Lourdes with 6:12 remaining in the first half. Moments later, junior defender Jessica Lee crossed a shot off the goalkeeper’s hands for a 2-0 lead which held until the half.

The rain stopped during halftime, but it started up even harder in the second half, and Lourdes increased its lead to 3-0 with a goal from Veronica Aguilar and an assist from Lee.

After Cypress Creek picked up its lone goal from Makenna Lawler to narrow the lead to 3-1, Nicole Lee added two more goals of her own down the stretch to push the lead to 5-1.

Four minutes later, as buckets upon buckets flooded the field and sidelines, the officials blew the whistle and ended the game early with 5:09 remaining on the clock.

“We will be playing for a state title against a team that won states last year. So in a way the pressure is on us,” Fique said. “But I think right now we are a team that really wants it. We’ve come up short two times now. Our mentality, with our seniors, is to get over the line.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 9:40 PM.