St. Thomas wins 32nd consecutive district title

FORT LAUDERDALE — Sophomore midfielder Rachel Tuffy scored just her second goal of the season, but it was an important one as it gave host St. Thomas Aquinas a 1-0 District 15-4A victory over Archbishop McCarthy at Brian Piccolo Stadium on Thursday night.

The win gave the Raiders (17-1-2) their 32nd consecutive girls soccer championship dating back to 1986. St. Thomas will host the regional quarterfinal next Thursday night.

“I saw the goalie was in the corner and out of the goal so I just thought shoot and see where it goes,” said Tuffy, whose game-winning effort from 25 yards out found the open net just seven minutes into the second half. “This year has just been proving myself and showing that I can play with this team. It’s great and hopefully there’s more to come.”

The teams played to a 2-2 tie on Dec. 7 at St. Thomas. The Raiders then tied Bishop O’Dowd, 2-2 and lost to Monte Vista, 2-0 at the Tri-Valley Classic in Danville, Calif., in late December. Those are the only goals the Raiders allowed all season. The team has outscored the opposition 108-6 for the season.

St. Thomas Aquinas, which has won it all a staterecord 14 times and won four titles in the past six years, lost to Viera last year when they were the topranked team in the nation and two-time defending state champs.

Archbishop McCarthy coach Mike Sica said his team is “getting closer” to St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mavericks (16-2-6) dropped the first five head-to-head meetings to them before the tie earlier this year. The team’s other loss this season was a 1-0 setback to American Heritage.

“We are getting there,” Sica said. “We have two losses this year and both are to arguably the top two teams in the state. They are obviously incredible with talent all over the field and we have talent too. They didn’t quit and they didn’t give up.”

The Raiders, ranked 18th nationally, dominated possession in the game and also outshot Archbishop McCarthy 16-0 for the game. The Raiders lost in the Class 4A state semifinal last season to two-time defending champ Viera.

“It was really frustrating,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Carlos Giron. “We need to play a lot better than we did today. I know we don’t want to peak too early, but I have seen them play 10 times better than they did today.”

When the teams played earlier in the season, the Raiders were without four starters who had just returned from a travel soccer tournament in North Carolina. Those four included Bella Dorosy, two-time reigning Sun Sentinel Broward Girls Large School Player of the Year, who is committed to Florida State.

Dorosy, who leads the Raiders with 30 goals and 21 assists, said the team was feeling some stress Thursday.

“There was a lot of pressure, because no one wants to be the first one to lose in 31 years,” said Dorosy, who will join her sister Dallas at FSU next season. “We just come out and play as hard as we can and hope foe the best.”

Dorosy had two golden chances in the second half. She hit an 18-yard shot over the crossbar out off a free kick midway through the second half and then blasted a left-footed shot from 8 yards out wide of the mark.

“It was a tough game,” she added. “We were moving the ball around okay and had a lot of chances, but none really went in.”