It's two out of three for Lourdes soccer

By Lynn Ramsey - Florida Catholic

DELAND | Lourdes Academy fought a COVID-weighed season to a stalemate. So it was only natural that the Bobcats and Venice played shutout soccer for 80 regulation minutes and 20 overtime minutes, pushing the Class 6A girls state-soccer final rematch into penalty kicks.

The Bobcats fell 3-1 and Venice won in its first state-final appearance, while the Indians denied Lourdes a chance to add to 2018 and 2020 titles.

But Lourdes capped a season like no other: for an eight-strong senior class, an unprecedented four-year run in school history. This group of seniors played in three state finals, winning two championships.

Lourdes coach Ramiro Vengoechea especially lauded Alexa Sanchez, who played all four years with Lourdes. “She’s been one of the more experienced players, and absolutely the reference of the team,” he said. “She’s carried the team and helped us. She’s been a part of three state finalists – two championships and one loss. She’s been incredible for us.”

He also lauded goalkeeper Mia Alexander, who had helped win penalty-kick shootouts in the region final and state semifinals. He also said seniors Maura Herrholz, Jillian Diaz, Sofi Perez, Emma Diaz, Caro Prieto and Adri Perez also helped mentor younger players.

 

DEFENSE RULES THE DAY

Venice put Lourdes’ seniors and underclassmen alike to the test in the state final, played March 5, 2021. Lourdes had attacked opponents by patiently starting in the back, then probing their midfield for opportunities to attack. Venice, however, awaited the Bobcats’ entry into the midfield and tried to intercept passes and force counterattacks.

“It was different, because we weren’t used to a team playing so deep,” Lourdes senior defender Alexa Sanchez said. “It wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. I don’t think it affected our game so much.”

However, the Bobcats had their chances to score. Coco Aguilar headed a long pass off the Venice crossbar 26 minutes into the first half. Both teams also tried cross passes into the penalty area. Lourdes keeper Mia Alexander and Venice keeper Ashton Pennell intercepted most of those.

The Bobcats also had to dodge a couple of near-misses. Venice’s Karina Diaz narrowly missed a first-half shot. Kiki Slattery, who scored a goal for Venice in Lourdes’ 2-1 victory last year, took a pass from Tatum Schilling and narrowly missed wide left in overtime. Alexander had to make a couple saves in the final minute of overtime to force the penalty-kick shootout.

“Tonight, I thought Lourdes was the protagonist. Lourdes was trying to attack and be dangerous and create opportunities,” Vengoechea said. “Venice’s game plan was pretty clear. They wanted to sit back and absorb and soak in pressure and play on counterattack. We struggled a bit to create real chances to score. I thought we dominated possession, but we weren’t as effective as we should’ve been in possession, and that showed. I think another night – and there’s been other nights – we’ve been dangerous and we’ve been effective in possession. That was the clear reason we didn’t score and didn’t win. We just weren’t effective with possession.”

In the shootout, Slattery beat Alexander top right to put pressure on the Bobcats. Pennell stopped Lourdes’ Jillian Diaz, then did it again when officials said Pennell left the goal line too early the first time. Venice went up 2-0 when Rachel Dalton scored top-right, and Pennell stopped Caro Prieto. Olivia Fair put Venice up 3-0 with a shot to the left side, then Maura Herrholz scored Lourdes’ only penalty kick into the lower right corner to pull the Bobcats within 3-1. Alexander saved the next shot, but Aguilar’s shot went high to clinch Venice the title.

“Mia’s been a huge asset to this team,” Sanchez said. “She made a big role, not only in PKs, but also in building out of the back, being patient with us, saving the goals. She’s been a great part of the team. We wouldn’t have made it this far without her.”

 

FIGHTING THROUGH COVID

By the time soccer season came about, Lourdes was prepared for COVID-19. However, the Bobcats faced a quarantine a couple games into the season. One of the players had been exposed to the coronavirus, forcing a 14-day quarantine. Other games later in the season were also affected by COVID.

Vengoechea said the team came together during that time, improvising ways to impart strategy. The team did Zoom meetings. “Obviously overcoming that throughout the year, it’s been difficult, because it’s time lost as a group on the field training,” Vengoechea said. “It’s been a weird year for everyone. It’s been difficult adapting and adjusting to COVID.”

The team also had to fill the gaps of losing nine seniors off the 2020 team. Sanchez and Jillian Diaz said it was a challenge onboarding several new players because of COVID.

“It was tough as first. It took a few games for us to get our rhythm together,” Diaz said. “We built a good chemistry with these girls. We moved around girls to different positions. It worked at the end.”

Even with the two-week break, the Bobcats won their first five games. They then lost two in a row to St. Thomas Aquinas and Doral – both by one goal. Diaz said that once the Bobcats got the mental aspect of their game tuned up, they started jelling more as a team.

They ended up avenging both losses – beating Doral in the District 16-6A final, then beating St. Thomas Aquinas 4-3 in penalty kicks in the region final.

 

RESILIENCE IN UNITY

Lourdes also had to adapt to a hybrid school schedule, where half the school was in-person for two days and virtual three days one week, then in-person three days and virtual two days. Sanchez said halfway through the season, all the seniors did in-person classes.

“At least the seniors got the chance to be with everybody, but it was still difficult to not see the girls in the hallway and be happy during game days and hype each other up during game days,” Sanchez said. “It was more that we had to wait after school and rely on the few hours before the game instead of all throughout school.”

The team also stayed strong in the faith. Sanchez said they’d pray before each game. They also still did their charity work, even though they had to do Zoom meetings to plan them.

Vengoechea said the faith also helped the team stay strong, and will help them overcome the state-final loss.

“The girls are strong in their convictions and faith, and we know that God doesn’t give you something you can’t handle, and the kids understand that and will be back,” Vengoechea said. “That’s part of the learning lesson of growing up. You need some hardship, and you’ll be able to bounce back and work through some type of adversity.”

Diaz said that the Bobcats have the road map for a potential title run. “I think the girls, as long as they put their heart into it and work hard and not let this get to them, they can use this emotion to get them passionate for the next season, I think they can get it back together,” Diaz said. “We’ve already been through this. We lost to Oviedo, the next year we came back and we won. I honestly think they can win.”