Miami Springs has tough state tournament soccer foe

Miami Herald

The Miami Springs girls' soccer team has been one of the most dominant in Miami-Dade County in recent memory.

The Golden Hawks (25-0-2), the only undefeated girls' soccer team in Miami-Dade County, find themselves in familiar territory -- the FHSAA Class 6A state tournament.

The Golden Hawks face an uphill climb if they want to win their first girls' soccer state title since 1988. The first test for the Golden Hawks will be Broward County powerhouse Douglas at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Miami Springs played in its fourth consecutive regional final Friday, beating archrival Lourdes 3-2.

Miami Springs seemed ready to run away with the game after shooting out to a 2-0 lead at halftime. The Golden Hawks, who were in control for the entire first half, let Lourdes back in the game on two quick second-half goals by the Bobcats tied the score.

''We may have gotten a little comfortable,'' Miami Springs coach William Drew said. ``We started matching their intensity when they tied us up.''

The Golden Hawks rallied behind Drew and shut down the attacking Bobcats' offense. With 11 minutes to play sophomore outside midfielder Sherrika Othello beat the Lourdes goalkeeper and found the side of the net for the game-winning goal.

Before their match against Lourdes, the Golden Hawks had an easy time in the postseason, beating their opponents by a combined score of 15-3.

This season Miami Springs hopes for a better result than last year's 4-0 state semifinal loss to Oviedo. Oviedo jumped all over the Golden Hawks, making it 3-0 before halftime and sending Miami Springs home early.

Douglas, which has won five of the past six girls' FHSAA class 6A state championships, once again has a team that should be respected.

''We're excited. I think that Douglas is a good team,'' Drew said. ``This year I told the girls no one is going talk to you, we are not going to change the formation and we are going to be playing the same soccer we've been playing all year. It must be working.''

Before the start of the 2008 state final four, Drew brought several speakers to talk to the team and give them last-minute words of encouragement.

Six seniors from last year's team have been replaced with a strong core of players. Some of the current starters were sitting on the bench during last year's loss and are hungry to get a chance to prove themselves in the state tournament.

One of the girls who was missed last season was captain Dallas Carter. Carter missed much of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and has come back as Drew's top scorer.

Drew, a junior, leads the team with 29 goals and has become one of the best offensive weapons Drew has and one of the vocal leaders.

''We've had rough rides. We knew there were struggles right from the start,'' Carter said. ``We've had to give everything that we've had and because of the girls on the team, we've gotten this far.''