from miami herald

West Broward girls' soccer coach Christiane Lessa was trying everything she could to stop McCarthy's Chrissy Gratz, shouting encouragement to her players all night.

''Stay with her,'' shouted Lessa from the sidelines. ``Wherever she goes, you go. If she goes to the bathroom, you go, too.''

West Broward marked Gratz throughout the District 14-5A semifinal at Hallandale, double and triple teaming Broward's leading scorer.

But when Gratz finally scored there was no one there.

She beat West Broward 2-1 with a penalty kick.

Gratz buried a shot into the left corner of the net in the 52nd minute of the game to end West Broward's magical season, one that started without a team or even soccer balls to kick.

''We started with nothing and we got all the way to the semifinals,'' said Lessa, who took a first-year school with no seniors further than anyone could have imagined. ``I'm so proud of them.''

Lessa and her fledging Bobcats (16-3-2) had the misfortune to play in the same district with Cardinal Gibbons (24-0-2), ranked No. 2 in the nation, and Archbishop McCarthy (14-6-3), a powerhouse in its own right and the home for Gratz, a three-time All-Broward player who was the Herald's Player of the Year as a junior.

McCarthy meets Cardinal Gibbons Friday in the district final.

''No disrespect to Cardinal Gibbons, but that's the best team in the county right there,'' said Lessa, pointing to McCarthy.

``They are physical, they have talent and they play hard.''

And they've got Gratz.

''She was the difference in the game,'' Lessa said.

``We knew she would make the difference and we double- and triple-teamed her all night.''

Gratz has scored 49 goals this season and 167 in her career, but none was bigger than that penalty kick Wednesday.

''I knew that was my chance,'' Gratz said. 'I knew I had to score there and win the game. I wasn't nervous. I was just thinking, `this is my goal.' ''

Nothing seemed to bother Gratz, not the brutal cold and wind, not the double and triple teams all night, and not even a bruised leg that was still bleeding after the game.

''My leg is bleeding pretty bad. It's coming right through (the legging),'' said Gratz, looking down at the blood. ``But that doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we won. Band-aids can fix that.''

Gratz injured her leg in a collision midway through the second half and -- after lying on the ground for a while to regroup -- she was told she had to sit out at least one play because of the injury. She walked to the sidelines, and two West Broward players followed her.

Gratz made a joke about the caravan behind her, and the McCarthy sideline laughed.

It was classic showdown. Jessica Bello weaved past three defenders to give West Broward a 1-0 lead early, but McCarthy came back to send the game to halftime at 1-1 when Brenna Grant nailed a shot off of Sarah Rountree's corner kick in the 30th minute.

But McCarthy survived and will advance to the playoffs win or lose Friday.

''Relieved, that's the only word for how I feel right now,'' said McCarthy coach Paul Frechette.

``This is the game we had to win. You lose, and you're done.

``We knew it would be hard, but a lot of players stepped up, and then Chrissy made the penalty kick. She's made her penalty kicks this year (Gratz is 8 for 8), and that was a big one.''