from florida today

Satellite is going back to state, and they're going there in heart-stopping style.

Forward Tishia Jewell scored on a header with just five minutes remaining in double overtime against longtime rival St. Thomas Aquinas in a Class 5A regional final match on Friday night, giving Satellite a dramatic 2-1 victory that sends the Scorpions back to the state semifinals.

The winner came from a perfectly placed Kristen Steininger free kick from just outside the penalty box on the right side of the field. Jewell, arguably Satellite's best player, rose above her marker just in front of the goal and banged it into the back of the net.

"When I saw the ball in the air, I knew I had it," Jewell said.

Steininger said she knew it, too.

"She just had this look in her eyes," Steininger said.

The Scorpions (22-4-2), who play Palm Harbor at 7:15 p.m. in Tampa on Friday, might have been lucky to even reach overtime, as St. Thomas Aquinas forward Ana Vufia, who had scored earlier, nearly ended the game with just 30 seconds to go, but her shot rocked off the crossbar and the game went into overtime.

Satellite got on the board about 10 minutes into the game when midfielder Taylor Hedgecock scored on a spectacular 50-yard goal from near midfield. The St. Thomas Aquinas goalie had been forced out of her penalty box to defend a loose ball, and when the ball squirted back out near midfield, Hedgecock was there to lob a one-bouncer into the undefended net to give the Scorpions an early 1-0 lead.

"All I heard was, 'Shoot!' " Hedgecock said. "I couldn't really see, but (my teammates) knew I had it."

St. Thomas Aquinas (21-4-1) then evened things about 20 minutes later when Vufia took a deflected corner kick, brought it down off her chest and blasted a shot from just outside the penalty box that zipped over the arms of Satellite keeper Ellie Harrington.

"They are so good up front," said Satellite sweeper Kat Fleming, the anchor of the Scorpion defense. "We just tried to contain and push the ball out wide."

Jewell nearly gave the Scorpions the lead minutes later, but her free kick from about 20 yards bounced off the crossbar.

Save for that play, the Lady Raiders outplayed the Scorpions in the latter part of the first half, forcing more shots and keeping play mostly on their side of the field, but they failed to convert another goal and the score remained 1-1 at halftime.

After that high-energy, fast-paced first half, decent chances were scarce, if not non-existent, in the second.

And that theme carried on into the first and second overtimes, until Jewell headed in the game-winner.

It marked the third year in a row Satellite knocked off the Lady Raiders in a regional final.

"That makes it even more special," coach Ryan Weldon said. "To beat our rivals, and not to mention a very good team, it means a lot."