NSU University School girls’ soccer returns to state
36 33 31 30 26
17 22 23 26 26
.679 .600 .574 .536 .500
— 4 51⁄2 71⁄2 91⁄2
Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt
14:06 1-2 0-0 334 3 25:11 3-9 2-2 132 8 39:22 9-14 5-5 14 4 2 23 38:05 10-23 2-3 7 7 1 23 32:44 7-11 1-1 1 4 4 20 10:15 0-2 2-2 110 2 36:29 5-13 2-2 2 1 1 16 32:02 6-12 0-0 9 3 2 12 11:46 1-2 0-0 611 2
Totals 240 42-88 14-15 44 27 17 109
Percentages: FG .477, FT .933. 3-Point Goals: 11-35, .314 (D.Robinson 5-7, Highsmith 4-10, Jovic 1-2, Herro 1-8, Cain 0-1, Love 0-1, Jaquez Jr 0-2, Ca.Martin 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 13. Blocked Shots: 1 (Highsmith). Turnovers: 13 (Herro 3, Adebayo 2, Jovic 2, D.Robinson 2, Cain, Highsmith, Jaquez Jr, Ca.Martin). Steals: 10 (Adebayo 2, Highsmith 2, Jaquez Jr 2, Ca.Martin 2, Cain, D.Robinson).
Phi Min FG-A FT-A R A F Pt
K.Martin 28:09 4-7 0-0 5 3 1 9 Oubre Jr 32:40 4-11 1-2 3 2 6 9 Reed 39:08 7-12 3-3 12 2 3 18 Hield 44:18 8-15 1-1 310 4 22 Maxey 39:24 12-23 4-4 6 7 2 30 Bamba 8:52 0-0 1-4 3 0 2 1 CouncilIV 22:40 5-10 2-2 4 2 1 13 Payne 21:59 1-7 0-0 3 3 1 2 Te.Smith 2:50 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 240 41-86 12-16 39 29 20 104
Percentages: FG .477, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 10-35, .286 (Hield 5-11, Maxey
2-7, Reed 1-1, K.Martin 1-2, Council IV 1-4, Te.Smith 0-1, Oubre Jr 0-4, Payne 0-5). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14. Blocked Shots: 1 (Reed). Turnovers: 14 (Hield 5, Maxey 3, Bamba 2, K.Martin 2, Council IV, Oubre Jr). Steals: 3 (Hield 2, Oubre Jr).
Through highs and lows, NSU University School’s girls’ soccer team has stayed the course this season.
The Sharks have sometimes even persevered with emotional roller coasters within the same game.
It happened on Wednesday night when sophomore Shayla DelaCruz gave her team a thrill by scoring a goal just three minutes into its regional championship game against Miami Edison.
And then 24 minutes later, there was anguish as DelaCruz was forced to leave the game with an apparent knee injury.
But once again, the Sharks kept their composure and punched a return ticket to the state final four following a gritty 2-0 victory over the visiting Red Raiders in the Region 4-3A final at AutoNation Field in Davie.
“I think our mentality has been great,” University sophomore midfielder Bianca Raskin said. “We thought we were going to come back stronger than ever. We’re doing things even better than last year.”
Raskin made a great play when she controlled a ball from junior forward Annie Levine and buried home a key insurance goal with nine minutes remaining to effectively seal the outcome.
University School (15-3) will now return to state for the second consecutive season and is the No. 3 seed, taking on No. 2 seed Merritt Island Edgewood next Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale.
The Sharks finished state runner-up in 2023 to Montverde Academy after having never even won a regional playoff game prior to last season. Montverde is the top seed this year and faces Gainesville P.K. Yonge in the other semifinal.
“The hardest thing has been the injuries,” University School coach Diego Estremedoyro said. “[DelaCruz]’s injury was the third ACL injury we’ve had this year. But the girls, even the ones that haven’t played a lot, continue to step up.”
The loss ended a remarkable season for Edison (16-1), which suffered its first defeat of the season after advancing to the regional finals for the first time in program history. Edison had never won a regional playoff game before this season and had not even advanced to regionals since 1990. The Red Raiders won their first GMAC title, second district title and recorded their first two regional playoff wins.
But the dream of making it to state for the first time was thwarted by a stingy NSU University School defense.
Raskin said the Sharks didn’t know much about the Red Raiders heading into the contest other than they had beaten Ransom Everglades, a team that beat University School during the regular season.
Region 4-2A final True North 5, South Florida HEAT 2: There were no hats for Aaliyah Perez to don when the final whistle blew.
But the freshman star for the True North Classical Academy girls’ soccer team didn’t care. She just wanted to go celebrate with her teammates because there was a lot to celebrate.
Perez scored three goals, the proverbial “hat trick,” to lead her No. 1-seeded Titans to a convincing victory on Wednesday afternoon at Kendall Soccer Park.
The win advanced the True North girls to their second consecutive state final four. And with the state having returned to its neutral site final four format, the Titans will head to Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale for a 2A state semifinal on Tuesday where they will face defending 2A state champion Lakeland Christian at 10 a.m.
“At first I was a little nervous but then after I got that first goal that gave us the lead back, I just started playing free and not thinking about what other people think and away we went,” said Perez, who was a Miami Herald first team AllCounty selection a year ago as an eighth grader at Doral Academy before transferring to True North. “I’m just here to help my team any way I can and if it’s scoring goals, great. If it’s dishing off to somebody else, great. Whatever I can do to help this team win is what I love to do and today was great for everybody.”
And dishing off an assist is exactly what Perez did that gave the Titans (132-2) their first goal in the game’s 12th minute when she crossed a pass to Malen Gonzalez, one of a half dozen eighth graders on the roster, in front of the net and Gonzalez popped it home for a 1-0 lead.
The lead lasted for less than 20 seconds. Perhaps still celebrating from the goal, True North got caught napping on defense. On the ensuing center field faceoff Melina Ramos dumped a deep ball down in front of the net that gave Olivia Diez a one-on-one with True North keeper Gabriela Keiser and Diez knocked it home.
But the quick equalizer did nothing to rattle Perez or her True North teammates. Just after the firsthalf water break, senior forward Aliyana Henry beat South Florida defender Priscilla Cardichon around the corner and centered a perfect ball to Perez who right-footed it past HEAT keeper Lea Dantzker to put the Titans up for good.
Region 4-4A final Delray American Heritage 2, Cardinal Gibbons 0: The Chiefs finish the season with a 10-7-3 record.