Missed chances doom Dolphins

from pnj.com

TAMPA — As the Gulf Breeze girls soccer team's chartered bus — full of pillows and blankets for the 7½-hour drive to the Class 4A state semifinals — pulled up Wednesday morning, the homemade sign proclaimed this was the year they would win it all.

But for the third straight year, Gulf Breeze returned home empty-handed, this time falling two wins short of a state title after a frustrating 2-0 loss to Ponte Vedra.

For the eight Gulf Breeze seniors —four of whom signed letters of intent last week to play college soccer —the feeling at the University of Tampa's Pepin Stadium was all too familiar.

And what made this loss more difficult to swallow was that the Dolphins, who played the Sharks to a scoreless tie in December, dominated most of the first half Wednesday.

"The clock was really what got us," said senior Alyssa Smith, an Ole Miss signee. "I honestly think if halftime wasn't when it was, we could have kept that momentum and we would have scored two or three goals."

The Dolphins (18-6-3), despite being outshot 10-4 on the day, had several scoring chances near the end of the first half, including a shot that leading scorer Jessica Majewski, a UWF recruit, hit off the crossbar after beating the goalkeeper in the 34th minute. Sixty seconds later, Jessica Vickrey, a Florida Atlantic signee, took a cross in front of the net but shot it right into the keeper.

"When you play against strong competition, you have to put away your chances or it can definitely come back and bite you," Gulf Breeze second-year coach Sharon Kerby said.

And it unraveled quickly for the Dolphins. In the 55th minute, a cross went through Gulf Breeze keeper Alison Milam's hands and into the net. Kerby said her team was caught off guard adjusting to its defensive assignments.

And the pace of the game turned from there. Most of the rest of the game was played in the Dolphins' end of the field, and Ponte Vedra (26-2-2) added an insurance goal four minutes later when Paige Jones scored off Ashley Nicol's chip.

"The first goal was a shock. It got in our heads," said senior midfielder Aubrey Curington, who will play at Mississippi State. "We wanted this really bad, but we weren't ready for it. You have to have a certain composure on the field that I know we have, but we didn't display it very well after the first goal. You can't let things like that get to you."

Last season, the Dolphins lost to Merritt Island in the same round. Two years ago, they fell to Orlando Bishop Moore in the state title game. For the Gulf Breeze seniors, they've come so close to winning the school's first state title since 2001 but came up short each time.

"Just to be here was an accomplishment," Curington said. "Not many teams get here, especially from Northwest Florida."

Class 4A Semifinal

At Pepin Stadium, Tampa

PONTE VEDRA 2 GULF BREEZE 0

GULF BREEZE (18-6-3) — Saves: Alison Milam 5

PONTE VEDRA (26-2-2) — Goals: Jackie Hellett, Paige Jones; Assists: Jessica Stephens, Ashley Nicol; Saves: Vergo 5