Viera shuts out St. Thomas

MELBOURNE — The season was supposed to end with tears of joy and another state championship, not tears of sorrow and disappointment over a missed opportunity.

But that’s how things ended for the nation’s No. 1-ranked girls soccer team Thursday night as the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders lost to the Viera Hawks,1-0, in the Class 4A state semifinal at Melbourne High.

“It’s definitely a shock,” Raiders co-captain Isabella Dorosy said. “We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a hard one, and we knew anything could happen.

“We just… we just didn’t finish our opportunities.”

Though Viera got a solid game from sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Lau, who had seven saves, the Raiders (20-1-1) had a number of chances to find the back of the net, including a point-blank shot in front of an open goal in the first half. The ball went wide right.

“We worked all year round and we’ve been scoring a lot of goals in most of the games,” Raiders coach Carlos Giron said. “We had to finish our opportunities. We created a lot, maintained a lot of the possession of the ball.

“It was just a matter of finishing and today, nothing was going in. We made a mistake in the back and that’s all it took.”

Viera’s goal came in the 26th minute when Brooke Walsh got the ball off a corner kick and crossed it into the box where it was headed in by Hollyn Knight.

The goal came right after the Raiders missed their point blank opportunity as the game moved on, the team started pressing.

“We were forcing the ball too much,” Giron said. “We had opportunities, but we were trying to force everything in.”

Thursday night’s semifinal was a battle between two defending state champions. St. Thomas won its 14th state title in Class 5A, while Viera won its firstever title in Class 4A.

And on this night, it just wasn’t meant to be for the Raiders.

“We definitely worked as hard as we could and I just don’t think things were working out for us,” Dorosy said. “We had so many chances to score, but nothing was working out. We just couldn’t finish today, but I’m really proud of my team.

“We worked hard all season. It’s a shame it had to come to this.”

PHOTOS BY CARL KOTALA/CORRESPONDENT Mackenzie Fee (14) of St. Thomas Aquinas pushes the ball forward while Viera’s BrookeWalsh gives chase during their Class 4A state semifinal game Thursday.

Shannon Turner of St. Thomas Aquinas works against Viera’s Sarah Kelliher during the first half of their Class 4A state semifinal Thursday at Melbourne High.