Late goal helps Lourdes soccer earn another chance at a state title

It turned to be a lot tougher than they ever thought it would be.

But in the end, after squandering a two goal lead in the second half, the Lourdes Academy girls soccer team, the No. 1 seed and a heavy favorite over state final four “newbie” Orlando Innovation, managed to keep its poise down the stretch, and make the plays necessary, including a Nicole Lee penalty kick conversion with 2:04 left, to pull out a 4-3 victory in a Class 5A state semifinal at Spec Martin Stadium.

A team that has never had a problem navigating its way through state semifinals (8-1 since 2016) now finds itself back in a familiar place - the state championship game. Lourdes will play in the state final for the eighth time in the last 11 seasons when the Bobcats square off against Tallahassee Chiles in the 5A championship game on Saturday at 4.

Next is the big hurdle for Lourdes coach David Fique and his girls. Ever since winning the championship twice in three years (2018 and 2020), Lourdes and Fique (who took over for former coach Ramiro Vengoechea following the 2020 title) have had to settle for runner-up medals all four times they’ve made the finals including last year’s 2-1 loss to Ponte Vedra.

They may have caught a nice break last week when that same Ponte Vedra team, the No. 1 team in the nation (Max Preps) this season, was upset by Tallahassee Chiles in the regional final. But the Bobcats (16-3) will now have to face that very same Chiles team after it edged North Fort Myers 1-0 in the other semifinal.

“I literally told the girls at halftime that while we want to be up, sometimes 2-0 leads can be the worst kind of score,” Fique said. “It’s still close enough to where you have to stay focused because the other team is one goal away from getting back in it.”

Sure enough, Fique watched as Innovation, a school which only opened its doors two years ago and was making its final four debut, scored less a minute into the second half slicing the Lourdes lead in half.

But after Catherine Esquijerosa scored off an assist from Gianna Gray with 27:12 left in the contest, the Bobcats had their two goal lead back and it looked like they would be fine.

So much for that notion.

With just under 23 minutes left, the game took a stunning turn when Innovation (11-8) scored twice in a two-minute span to tie the game just before the second half water break.

Making matters even worse, the Bobcats were victims of a bizarre, rarely-made call buried deep in the rule book that led to Innovation’s game-tying goal.

It came with 20:43 left when Lourdes keeper Sophia McMillan, following a routine uncontested save, was called for delay of game. A rarely-used rule that requires a goalkeeper, if their team is leading in the second half, to put the ball back in play not more than six seconds after making the save.

Before Fique or anybody else could even get some kind of explanation, the Bulls were given an indirect kick practically right in front of the net, five yard from the line.

Innovation’s Kamila Makki Ramirez one-touched it to Sofia Selpushkina who hit the shot into the Lourdes wall of players. The ball bounced right back to Makki Ramirez, who blasted it into the top left corner of the net tying the game 3-3.

“I don’t know, that’s been the story of this season,” said Fique, shaking his head from side to side. “We have a tendency to have these unfocused moments that we just kind of get too comfortable and all of sudden we find ourselves in a battle. Then we get this crazy call on our keeper, something I’ve never seen called before in any game I coached. But I guess it’s in the rule book so we had to deal with it.”

When the Miami Herald checked with a state official, it was confirmed that the call was made as recently as last week in Auburndale against the goalkeeper from Melbourne Holy Trinity in a boys’ 2A state semifinal contest against Westminster Christian.

“I think it was really up to us to keep our heads up and maintain our poise and not get flustered by those two goals,” said senior co-captain Lorena Alvarez, whose two goals at the 20:42 and 16:31 mark staked her team to that 2-0 halftime lead. “We knew throughout the game that we were the better team and just needed to keep showing that. What was important was our reaction to that adversity and we responded the way I knew we could.”

Just when it looked like the game was headed to overtime, Lourdes got the break it was looking for when the whistle blew with 2:04 left. Innovation’s Jaslyn Mason was called for a hand ball inside the penalty box. Lee is considered the best PK taker on the team and delivered when she drilled one into the bottom right side of the net past diving goalkeeper Toi Collins who actually got a piece of the ball but not enough.

“It was super annoying because it was a really long wait so I was just trying to figure out in my head what I was going to do as far as the kick,” said Lee, the other senior co-captain. “On top of that, their keeper was giving me lip, like ‘I’m going to eat you for breakfast.’ That honestly just fueled me more to make sure I got that ball past her and even though she got a piece of it, it was good enough. Now we have another chance in the final. This will be my third try and last chance. It’s time to bring this home.”

Asked about his own personal frustration of having yet to experience the euphoria of leading his program to a state title with those four runner-up finishes, Fique deflected.

“We’re not trying to think about the past, just trying to look forward,” he said. “We’re thinking about this as a first-time opportunity. The past is the past. We’re just happy to have survived today and be where we are now. We’ll do our best to try and get this thing done.”