Bishop Moore reaches goal: FHSAA final
It was the twin sister connection that cemented Bishop Moore’s lead Friday night as the Hornets punched their ticket to the Class 4A state girls soccer championship game with a 2-0 win against visiting South Walton (11-6-0).
Amelia Miller doubled the lead 10 minutes into the second half thanks to a cross from her sister.
Raelin Miller found space on the outside, beating her defender and sending a cross to the far post where Amelia headed it home to make it 2-0.
“I just had a feeling. I knew she was always at the back post and I was like, ‘OK. This is the one’ and I crossed it and she was there to finish it,’ ” Raelin said after the game. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe she got that.”
Bishop Moore (17-3-2) extended its win streak to 11 games and advanced to a Wednesday 4:05 p.m. FHSAA state title game at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. The No. 1-ranked Hornets will face No. 2 Delray Beach American Heritage (13-1-2), which won its semifinal 4-0 against Tampa’s Academy of Holy Names.
Elsewhere in state semifinals on Friday, Lake Minneola (13-4-1) lost 1-0 at Cape Coral Mariner (21-30) in Class 6A and Geneva School (12-5-0) lost 4-1 at St. Petersburg Shorecrest (15-3-0) in 2A.
The opening goal in the 20th minute was an awkward one. Raelin crossed the ball into the box and a defender headed it up and into the net for an own goal.
Bishop Moore coach Amy Geltz later said all that matters is the play resulted in a goal for her team.
“It helped us to push through adversity,” Raelin said. “We were really devastated at the beginning. We were like, ‘We’ve got to get a goal. And then finally once we got it, we were a little bit relieved.’ ”