Somewhere, buried in the middle of that red and white human ball of
jubilation, there were tears.
Cardinal Gibbons was crying. That's just
how good, how sweet and how deep this one felt.
Words? There weren't any. Just screams and yelps and more screams --
and in the middle of it all, tears.
That's what that wild, wonderful celebration looked and felt like
Friday for the Gibbons girls, the ones who made history; the ones who kept
their promise, and the ones who have so much more to play for now.
No words for it.
''Indescribable,'' Brittany D'Annunzio said.
''Speechless,'' Sara Trexler said.
It was Trexler's perfect cross that found D'Annunzio, whose header in
the 85th minute lifted Gibbons to a 4-3 sudden-death victory over Merritt
Island in the Class 4A region finals.
Gibbons advanced to play Fort Myers Cypress Lake at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.
Instead of sudden death, Friday felt more like sudden life for Gibbons.
D'Annunzio's header floated up, up, up, then dipped just in time, landing
in the back of the net and landing Gibbons in the state final four in
Tampa.
''At first I thought it was going over,'' D'Annunzio said. ``Then I saw
it and I thought, `Oh my gosh! We made history. We're going to states!'''
No one at Gibbons had ever said that before -- at least not in girls'
soccer. Gibbons' rich tradition in athletics was missing this piece, this
piece that came with a promise.
''Honestly,'' Gibbons coach Margo Flack said, ``they told me in October
they were going to do this, that they would be the first team to go to
state.''
They kept their word, and then doused Flack with a barrel of cold
water.
''I'm just so happy,'' Flack said. ``I'm so proud of them. They knew it
would be a hard-fought path, and they truly earned it.''
They did more than that. Along that ''hard-earned path,'' Gibbons
earned the top ranking in the nation, and two more victories wouldn't just
mean the first state title, but a mythical national championship.
The Gibbons girls will take an unbeaten record (28-0-2) to the state
semifinals Thursday in Tampa, where another victory would send them to the
title game Saturday. It appeared they were headed for Tampa early, as
Gibbons bolted to a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes. First it was Trexler,
who slammed in a goal for a 1-0 lead, and then came Jenny Grant's double
header.
Grant's first header came off a perfect throw-in from D'Annunzio in the
17th minute, and then two minutes later Trexler sent a beauty of a cross
into traffic in front of the net, and Grant made a leaping effort, heading
in a shot that left Merritt Island helpless. Gibbons appeared ready to
blow Merritt Island off the field, but a controversial call late in the
first half gave Merritt Island a penalty kick, and Amanda Wilkin scored
the first of her two goals. Chelsea Sing tied it at 3 in the 67th minute.
