Douglas in Cypress Bay's path to glory

fromMiami Herald

Seemingly every year, Cypress Bay's season comes down to Douglas.

And every time it does, the outcome is the same: The Lightning heads home, while the Eagles advance.

Tuesday night, in the Region 3-6A semifinal, Cypress Bay has a chance to alter a painful legacy.

The host Lightning just needs to beat Douglas -- for the first time in the history of its girls' soccer program.

''This is the nemesis,'' Cypress Bay coach Kate Dwyer said. ``There is no other public school rivalry like this one. You don't need to motivate them for this game.''

Like the groggy groundhog getting yanked from the ground in western Pennsylvania, a regional matchup between these teams is an early February tradition.

Yet Cooper City broke up the party last winter when it knocked off Douglas -- which at the time was the five-time defending state champion -- in the regional quarters. Dodging the Eagles, Cypress Bay then reached the regional finals, where it lost to eventual state champion Wellington. But with Douglas' 3-1 revenge victory over the Cowboys last week, the grudge match is back on.

''We want to beat them. That's it,'' said senior Eva Leeper, who leads Cypress Bay with 14 goals and eight assists. ``I think our team is at the perfect level of where we need to be.''

Massive turnover from last year's team has thrust Leeper into a leadership role. All 11 starters from a year ago are gone. Even though the Lightning boasts 12 seniors, Dwyer considers it a young team.

''We started from scratch,'' said Dwyer, who has engineered a 17-4-3 season. ``We didn't know what to expect. We had to step up and work as hard as we could as a team.''

The Lightning got a break when center midfielder Madison Kinsell returned from her self-imposed, one-year sabbatical. Burned out from soccer, Kinsell declined to play last year. But she returned to the team this season, and scored both goals in Cypress Bay's regional quarterfinal victory over Coral Springs.

Goalkeeper Kelsey Gil has emerged as the full-time starter after sharing time the past two seasons. Gil has 12 saves on the year.

''At this level, pretty much everyone has the same amount of skill,'' Dwyer said. ``Whoever shows up and outworks the other team is going to win.''