American Heritage girls win Class 5A title on penalty kicks
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 being 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 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.
Later, 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.
Asked how she handles all the pressure of carrying the weight of winning a state title for her team for the second year, Milffe didn’t hesitate.
“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.”