It was a Valentine's Day victory for the Montverde Academy girls soccer team who triumphed over McKeel Academy 5-2 to win a Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) regional semifinal round at Bishops Gate 1 on Friday night.
The Eagles started the game by putting lots of pressure on the visiting Wildcats, eventually finding a breakthrough in the twelfth minute when Lola Rey made a beautiful flick skill to set up a power shot on the top of the box to put the Eagles up 1-0.
It only took Rey another four minutes to get her second goal of the night when she again got the ball at the top of box firing home a rocket of a shot that put the Eagles up 2-0, in the seventeenth minute.
Vienna Morgan added her name to the score tally seconds before halftime as she picked up the ball on the right side and dribbled into the top of the box, slotting home a shot into the back of the net to put the Eagles up three at the break.
McKeel Academy started strong in the second half creating momentum and putting the Eagles under lots of pressure. After failing to even take a shot in the first half, the Wildcats took five over the final 40 minutes.
But despite the newfound energy by the Wildcats, the Eagles still found a way to score through Caroline Ritchey in the sixty fourth minute to put the Eagles up 4-0.
The scoring didn't stop there for the Eagles as the ball fell to Emma Vodden on the left side of the box who perfectly placed a shot in the bottom corner to put the Eagles 5-0 with less than 13 minutes to play.
The Wildcats never gave up and managed a pair of late goals to narrow their deficit. Abigail Lovelady scored in the sixty-ninth minute and Natalie Medina in the seventieth to make the score 5-2.
It was too little way too late for the Wildcats, who saw the Eagles hold a 16-5 advantage on shots and 6-2 advantage on corner kicks.
"We pushed and did really well, they clearly wanted to come and ruin our streak, we remained calm in the very intense game," said Rey.
The Eagles will now play in the regional championship for the third year in a row and look to beat Central Florida nemesis Lake Highland Prep for the third time this season. The Eagles beat the Highlanders 2-1 in Orlando on December 13, before winning 3-0 in penalty kicks after a scoreless tie in the district championship on January 28.
"Anytime you play a team three times in a season it becomes really really difficult," said head coach Robbie Aristodemo after the game. "Lake Highland Prep is a very tough match up, I think at any given point they could beat us and we could beat them, it will be a great regional final and we are excited for that match up."
The regional championship will be in Montverde on Wednesday February 19 at 7:00 pm.
