Boca, Oxbridge seeking state title wins this week

DELAND — A pair of teams from Palm Beach County are among the 10 that will make the trip to DeLand this week for the Florida high school girls soccer state championships.

Oxbridge Academy and Boca Raton will play today and Friday, respectively, for state titles at Spec Martin Stadium.

The ThunderWolves, who defeated Tampa-Academy of the Holy Names 1-0 in overtime last week in the state semifinals, play Montverde at 4 p.m. today for the Class 2A state title. The unbeaten Bobcats, who defeated MiamiOur Lady of Lourdes 3-0 in their semifinal, play nationally ranked and defending state champion Oviedo on Friday for the Class 5A title. The Lions also are unbeaten.

Oxbridge will be playing in its first state championship game for girls soccer, while the Bobcats last appeared in a state title game in 2010 when Boca Raton fell to Palm Harbor-University 1-0 in overtime in the Class 6A state title game.

Here’s our state championship preview:

Class 5A

Boca Raton (25-0) vs. Oviedo (2 1- 0-1), 4 p.m. Friday: The Bobcats and Lions will put their unbeaten streaks on the line in what should be a fascinating state championship game. Boca Raton will face a huge test in Oviedo, a girls soccer powerhouse ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps. The Lions won the Class 5A state title last year and were runner-up to Fort Lauderdale-St. Thomas Aquinas — another soccer powerhouse — in 2015. Both Ov i e d o a n d B o c a R a t o n rolled through the postseason, with the Lions posting four shutouts in four games and outscoring their opponent s 14 - 0. The B o b c a t s recorded t wo shutouts in four postseason games and outscored their opponents 16-3. Boca Raton’s prolific offense, which accounted for six goals in a 6-1 win over 2015 state semifinalist Vero Beach, is led by Dayana Martin and Kendra Cashion. The pair has combined to score more than 70 goals this season and will need to be sharp against the Lions’ swarming defense. This game will be close, but I’ll give the edge to Oviedo.

Prediction: Oviedo 2-1

Class 2A

Oxbridge Academy (141-2) vs. Montverde (25-2), 4 p.m. today: The 2017 postseason has been an endurance test for the ThunderWolves, who needed overtime or penalty kicks to prevail in t wo of four playoff games. Oxbridge Academy is coming off an OT win over Tampa-Academy of the Holy Names in last week’s state semifinals, with a goal by junior Camryn Socha making the difference. The Eagles also played a tough state semifinal, winning 2-1 against twotime defending state champion Jacksonville-Bolles, as well as a tough regional final. Montverde needed penalty kicks to beat Orlando-Bishop Moore in that contest, so both teams have faced elimination and prevailed. I’ll take Oxbridge Academy in a very close contest.

Pre di c t i o n: Academy 1-0 Oxbr i dge