Heritage advances to regional semifinals
PEMBROKE PINES Gabby Scarlette came off the bench to score two second-half goals within a four-minute span to give American Heritage a 2-0 victory over host Pembroke Pines Charter in the Class 3A girls soccer regional semifinal on Friday night.
Scarlette, a sophomore, received a pass from Megan Morgan and scored past a charging Pines Charter goalkeeper Maegan Teeling for a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute. In the 64th minute, the Patriots’ Maree Fray drew Teeling out of her net and scored a tap-in goal for her 10th goal of the season. Goalkeeper Jenna Lowrey posted her 10th shutout of the season.
American Heritage (14-2-2) has defeated Pembroke Pines Charter 12 consecutive times dating back to 2011 and hold a 51-3 the scoring edge over the Jaguars during that span. Pembroke Pines Charter (14-6-4) downed the Patriots, 2-1 (5-4 PKs) for the district title after the Jaguars dropped its two regular season games to American Heritage, 8-0 and 3-0.
“Losing the district title was bad because we hadn’t lost in 18 years,” said Patriots’ coach Cindy Marcial, whose team will travel to play the winner of the Mariner/North Fort Myers game on Feb. 13. “It hurt, but I think it was good. It woke us up.”
American Heritage came up short in its bid for a fifth consecutive girls state soccer title, and 11th overall, when it fell to Merritt Island, 2-0 in the state semifinals last year.
ARCHBISHOP McCARTHY 2. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 1: Playing with the lead most of the game, the Mavericks withstood a second-half charge from the host Raiders to win a Class 4A regional semifinal in Fort Lauderdale.
Archbishop McCarthy (22-1-2) grabbed the lead just two minutes into the contest as Cassandra Lawson scored from just inside the 18-yard box.
The Mavericks’ second goal came in the 16th minute, sending a corner kick in which was kicked around the goal until it landed on the foot of Adriana Duque, who buried it from pointblank range to give her team a 2-0 lead.
Aquinas (13-2-1) came out attacking to start the second half. The Mavericks withstood the initial barrage, but in the 64th minute, Brooke Sanfilippo scored on a carom off of a corner kick as St. Thomas avoided the shutout.
Mavericks coach Mike Sica said the early goal was instrumental in building his team’s confidence.
“The talent that we have is phenomenal,” Sica said. “That early lead just gave them a little reassurance and it just kept building.
“The girls did a fantastic job, but we have a lot left to do. Our goal wasn’t just to get here.”
BOCA RATON 1, WELLINGTON 0: Senior Dayana Martin scored the game’s only goal in the first half, and freshman goalkeeper Lara Larco stepped up with critical saves to lift the Bobcats past the Wolverines in a Class 5A regional Boca Raton (17-2-1), which reached the state championship game last season, advances to the Class 5A regional finals and will play Jupiter or Vero Beach on Tuesday.
“We are excited to go back to the regional finals,” Boca Raton coach Rachael Grimes said. “We played with a lot of energy, and our defense and goalkeeper semifinal in Wellington. played really well.”
Martin, a University of Central Florida signee, stayed on a roll after scoring four goals in an 8-1 win against Park Vista in the regional quarterfinals.
Senior Kendra Cashion, a Troy signee, sent a a pass to Martin as she quickly made a play past the defense and fired a shot into the corner of the net in the first half.
The Bobcats controlled the first half with possession and working toward the Wolverines side of the field.
The Wolverines (19-4-1) had multiple scoring opportunities in the second half inside the box, but were unable to convert. The Wolverines had a header off a crossing pass toward the net that was turned away with nearly 20 minutes remaining. Larco made a diving save with nearly 16 minutes left in the second half.
Wolverines goalkeeper Alexa Kovi kept her team in the game with a save off a shot by Martin with nearly three minutes left.
Wellington had their seven-game win streak snapped.
The Bobcats also the Wolverines earlier in the season. defeated 3-0