from palm Beach post

ROYAL PALM BEACH — Thanks to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Merritt Island-Edgewood, King's Academy is going to the regional finals.

The score was tied at 2 after regulation and both overtime sessions so the game would be decided on penalty kicks, which the Lions (21-4-3) won 5-3.

With a 4-3 lead after four rounds of penalties, the final shooter for King's Academy was sophomore forward Jennifer Collins, who calmly knocked the ball past the diving Melody Wolfe into the right side of the net giving the Lions the win.

"I tried to stay extremely calm," Collins said. "And when I saw the ball go into the net It was pure excitement, it was awesome,"

King's Academy led 2-0 at halftime thanks to early goals by junior forward Andrea Jefferson. Both goals were set up by beautiful crossing passes from Gilda Doria.

"Gilda is the consummate player and leader on this team," King's Academy coach Glenn Martin said. "She set up those plays perfectly and Andrea did a great job of finishing them."

The Indians (11-6-2) fought back immediately once the second half began, scoring two goals within the first ten minutes to tie the game.

The second of those goals was somewhat controversial as it appeared Lions' goalkeeper Kristy Louissaint stopped a free kick by Ashley Hurme, but the referees ruled that Louissaint was behind the goal line when she made the save.

"It was a close play, I couldn't really tell from my angle, so you have to trust the refs," Martin said.