Dobles delivers No. 11 to Patriots

DELAND — American Heritage senior Taylor Dobles scored the biggest goal of her career late in the second half, helping the Patriots capture their 11th girls state soccer championship with a 2-1 win over Gulf Breeze in the 3A final.

“For us, it’s great,” said Heritage coach Cindy Marcial. “For the school, winning 11 state championships just shows our resilience.”

Said Dobles: “Knowing that we just added another state title to that [number] is just an amazing feeling.”

Dobles’ winning goal in the 71st minute started with Emily Thompson’s leftfooted free kick from the right side, which was deflected by a wall of Dolphins defenders directly to Dobles, who booted home the winning goal.

“It was an amazing feeling,” she said. “I see the ball in front of me, there’s really no time to think. So I had to just take a touch and get a shot off.”

Heritage (20-1-1) took a 1-0 lead on a Chloe Laureano penalty kick in the 44th minute, after Olivia Roth had been fouled by Gulf Breeze’s Mya Swinton just inside the penalty area.

Gulf Breeze (22-3-2) evened the score in the 62nd minute when Aila Swinton headed in a free kick from her sister, Mya.

In a scoreless first half, Gulf Breeze controlled play early until Heritage registered its first shot in the 27th minute. The Patriots had the better of the play in the final third of the opening half.

“We just said we got to trust each other,” said Marcial. “I think the nerves at first got us, but when we settled down, we started passing [and] it was good soccer for us.”

Dobles