Shorthanded yet resilient, NSU University School girls’ soccer falls in state semifinal match

Until two weeks ago, everything seemed to be proceeding on course for the NSU University School girls’ soccer team.

And then key players started dropping like flies.

Through this ill-timed wave of injuries to three starters over their past two games, the Sharks remained resilient and punched their ticket back to the state final four.

But the setbacks proved too much for NSU University School to complete its mission of winning a state championship the second time around.

The Sharks battled inexperience at certain positions and played from behind for most of Wednesday morning’s Class 3A state semifinal against Merritt Island Edgewood before falling 2-1 at Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale.

“We lost three starters for the year and two in the last three games,” NSU University School coach Diego Estremedoyro said. “We had to rely on girls that didn’t play that much this year.”

The Sharks (15-4) made their second consecutive trip to state and second in program history after never having advanced that far prior to that. A year after finishing state runner-up, University School found itself trailing after only 20 minutes after Edgewood found the back of the net on a goal by Gianna Lopez.

The Sharks kept things virtually even with each team finishing with six shots apiece, but couldn’t muster an equalizer despite four shots on goal of their own. After University lost another player to injury when Simmy Mangan went down after a collision with an Edgewood player, the Red Wolves added a second goal on a higharching shot by Elizabeth Corrigan.

Still, the Sharks didn’t go away quietly as freshman Sadie Zelnick delivered her own crossing shot to finally put University on the board in the 88th minute.

But University School couldn’t muster any more offense in time before the clock ran out.“At one point we were playing with three or four girls who didn’t usually play much,” Estremedoyro said. “But we didn’t quit even when we went down 2-0. After the injury, we started pressing high and we just ran out of time.”

After University School lost sophomore defender Sian Kellier earlier this season, they lost three more key starters combined over their last two playoff matches as sophomore forward Shayla Delacruz, junior forward Jada Graham and junior defender Giana Sanchez each suffered season-ending injuries.

The Sharks, however, have only three seniors on their roster and return virtually their entire starting lineup, giving them hope they can make another run at a state championship.