Alicea’s 2 goals lead Gibbons
FORT LAUDERDALE — Maya Alicea scored twice and added an assist in the first half as host Cardinal Gibbons jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 5-0 Class 2A regional semifinal win over last year’s state runner-up Oxbridge Academy on Friday.
Alicea, who signed on Wednesday with the University of South Florida, found Amy Bidwell for a 1-0 lead. Bidwell received the pass and dribbled to her right before crushing a right-footed blast past the outstretched arms of Oxbridge goalkeeper Henrietta Purina in the 17th minute.
“I just wanted to do the best could for my team,” said Alicea, who has a team-leading 14 goals and 11 assists this season. “I don’t want to disappoint anyone, and I know how hard everyone else has worked and I know we deserved to win this, and I just wanted to give it all I got.”
Cardinal Gibbons will travel to play Carrolton on Feb. 12 in the regional final. It is their first regional final appearance since 2010, the year after they lost to Ponte Vedra in the Class 4A final, 1-0 (4-3 PKs) in 2009.
The Chiefs (16-1-4) made it 2-0 when Chloe Depenbrock rushed down the right flank and hit a centering ball that the ThunderWolves’ defense was unable to clear, and Alicea headed the ball over Purina in the 23rd minute.
Alicea made it 3-0 in the 35th minute off a cross from Alysa Vazquez and deposited it into the open net.
Cardinal Gibbons pushed the lead to 4-0 just four minutes into the second half of a goal by Brandi Orlando, before Alicea found Vazquez on a long centering pass off a free kick to make it 5-0 in the 65th minute. Freshman goalkeeper Alexis DeVeaux made eight saves for her 14th shutout of the season.
It was the worst defeat for Oxbridge (11-6-1) since a 6-0 defeat to Boca Raton on Jan. 9, 2017.
Oxbridge coach Steve Obringer said his team battled through injuries most of the season.
The ThunderWolves, who won the state title in 2017, had defeated Cardinal Gibbons 2-0 in last year’s regional semifinal.
“We had a lot of injuries all year,” Obringer said. “I am down five total players, including four starters and the next one was my first player off the bench, so I feel like we have been playing with house money the past couple of games and we sort of ran out of gas. They are playing really good soccer here at Gibbons right now, and we knew it was going to be a tough test, and they got the best of us tonight.”