Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
ThunderWolves are state champs
DELAND — The crowd was screaming. Her teammates were screaming.
But Jordan Schaefer, who had just scored the biggest goal of her high school career, couldn’t hear it.
“Actually, I didn’t hear anything,” the Oxbridge Academy senior said. “(But) I knew it went in. It was great.”
Schaefer’s goal, which came with 20:38 remaining in Wednesday’s FHSAA Class 2A girls soccer championship, would prove to be the game-winner as the ThunderWolves rallied from two goals down to defeat Montverde Academy, 3-2, at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.
Allison Breed also had a pair of goals for the ThunderWolves.
The state championship is the first for Oxbridge Academy in any sport in the school’s six-year history.
Talk about a game to remember.
“They never gave up,” ThunderWolves coach Staci Wilson said. “The team has a lot of heart. I already knew that. The girls have showed it all year long.
“I’ve really challenged them and asked them to come outside of their comfort zones. They responded really well and now their hard work has paid off.”
While Schaefer — the only senior on the team — had the game-winning goal, the ThunderWolves got a big game from virtually every player who took the field Wednesday.
That’s especially true of Breed, who scored a huge goal right before the end of the first half.
Montverde had just taken a 2-0 lead when Madeline Perez came down the right side, saved the ball before it went out of bounds, and found Breed, who drilled it home.
“Maddie got a fast break down the line and she crossed it to me,” Breed said. “I saw it there, so I took a touch past the defender and then just placed it to the lower left corner.”
Breed’s goal, which came with 1:44 to play in the first half, changed the entire game.
“That changed the mood,” Schaefer said. “Those first two goals they got in, it was kind of like, ‘Oh man.’ But her getting it in (allowed us to) come back in strong and finish what we needed to do.”
Hannah Kanjian, Kaitlyn Campbell, Harper Murphy, Mackenzie Fazio and goalkeeper Merissa Chu (four saves) all came up big for the ThunderWolves on Wednesday, particularly in the first half and in the game’s final minutes, when Montverde was relentlessly attacking.
Schafer’s goal came nearly 10 minutes later as she lofted a shot over the keeper’s head from about 25 yards out.
“Honestly, it’s kind of all a blur,” Schaefer said. “I saw the ball go up (the field), so I was just kind of trailing behind. I saw a girl cut right in front of me, so instead of going with her, I cut back across and shot it.”