Fresh off a physically and emotionally draining loss in the district finals, the girls soccer team at Timber Creek is looking to replace that memory with its first-ever win in the regional quarterfinals. All that head coach Dawn Feeney can hope for is the same kind of intensity from her team shown in their 2-1 loss to Winter Park in the District 4 title game.
Tonight the Lady Wolves will be challenged with going on the road to face District 3 champs Lake Mary at 7 p.m. “Right now it’s up to them,” said Feeney. “It’s in their hands and it’s time for them to, as we say, bring out the fire from within and do their jobs.” All season long Feeney has urged the team to play with focus and consistency to finish off opponents.
But with players moonlighting on club teams during the season, and studying for exams held last week, it’s been a challenge to make that happen down the stretch. Such was the case against the Wildcats, where even after holding a 1-0 advantage thanks to a goal by Elise Larrett, the chance to avenge an early season loss was in doubt.
Larrett put the ball in the back of the net for the game’s first score of the night, after getting past three defenders with a little over 26 minutes remaining. But things changed for good shortly thereafter. For the most part, scoring chances were few and far between for Timber Creek as Winter Park was aggressive offensively for much of the night. Golden opportunities to score on crosses and a penalty kick slipped past the Wildcats and it looked as if TCHS might find a way to steal their second straight district title.
But when time expired, tears flowed on the TCHS sideline following two late Winter Park goals that came as the Wolves were forced to play a person down for the final 22 minutes. “I think this may bring them closer and may make them stronger,” said Feeney of the adversity faced by her team. It was a questionable red card pulled on four-year varsity player and captain Jessica Monarch while inside the penalty box that gave Winter Park the momentum the remainder of the way.
With the 11-10 advantage on the field the Wildcats found enough room to finally connect on a goal. With 14:44 to play, a cross from the right side got behind sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Kesic and found a Winter Park teammate, who got an easy score to tie the game. From that point on the game was clearly in favor of the Wildcats.
Because there was little effort offensively from the Wolves, they found themselves with their backs against the wall, attempting to fend off a shot-happy opponent. And despite the muddy conditions at Boone High School, Kesic weathered most of the 16 shots on goal to keep TCHS in the game. But playing without the type of defender Monarch has become was clearly too much of a loss to overcome. It was a hard shot from nearly 18-yards out that gave the Wildcats the final opportunity, as Kesic made the initial save but couldn’t rebound in time to stop the follow- up shot that eluded her with 8:59 to go.
Afterwards Monarch and junior Nicole Lehman encouraged teammates to keep focused on the next round of competition and to not let the season end the way it did last year, a 1-0 loss to Eau Gallie. “Ever since we played [Winter Park] earlier in the season we’ve been building up to play this game, going back and forth with the rivalry with them. But they just came out and took it,” said Lehman.
“Towards the end of the season our team has really picked it up, but we just got unlucky. It seems like we’ve been driving and going as hard as we can just to beat Winter Park ever since Timber Creek started.” The loss kept TCHS from earning its fourth district title in five trips to the finals and keeps them winless all-time against the Wildcats. The Wolves advanced to the district finals by defeating University on penalty kicks in the semifinals and enter tonight’s game with a 16-4-4 mark. “We want to play this team again.
This is probably one of the best things that could have happened,” said Kesic as she put a positive spin on the heartbreaking loss. “I think we can come together when we really want it,” she said. “We play awesome against teams like this. We just need to come together a little bit more.” Both Timber Creek and Winter Park, which hosts Oviedo tonight, have their hands full as they move forward. And if each can notch a win, then they would again meet up in the next round for the third time this season.
It’s a scenario the Wolves believe can come to pass after the way their regional opponent from a year ago went from a district runner-up to state runner-up in just a few weeks. “The team has to realize it’s not the end and that we can still make it all the way to states,” said Lehman.
