The Vero Beach High girls soccer team reached the Final Four in the state tournament before being eliminated in a semifinal match by eventual champion Oviedo.
The Fighting Indians had several good scoring chances but couldn’t slip anything past the Oviedo keeper in the 2-0 shutout. Goals are never quite as easy to come by when you get deep into the playoffs, especially against a team ranked in the top 10 nationally going into the tournament. The state title was the Lions’ third in six years.
“Although the score of the game was not in our favor, I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” head coach Dan Dickens said after the season-ending loss. “We played against an amazing team and it was a great battle.
“They capitalized on two more plays than us and in the course of an 80-minute game that was the difference. Our girls left it all on the field and have nothing to be ashamed of.
“I tell them often that they can’t be scared to lose, they should only be scared to not give their best effort. They gave their best effort. I am proud of them. It has been a phenomenal season.”
Indeed it was a memorable season for the first-year head coach and an experienced group of talented soccer players that was accustomed to competition at this high level. For 10 seniors this season represented one last opportunity for the brass ring that had eluded them in 2014 when they made it all the way to the state title game before losing to St. Thomas Aquinas, 5-0.
The disappointment of never quite reaching the mountaintop over the course of a high school career had to be tempered at least slightly for five seniors in particular. Just two days before being eliminated by Oviedo, they made commitments to play soccer in college on National Signing Day.
Forward Nicole McClain paced an attack that featured many contributors with a team-high 15 goals. She signed on to play at Florida Institute of Technology. Striker Taylor Chapman was second behind McClain with 11 goals. She will continue her soccer career at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Forward Makenzie Burton chose Florida Atlantic University, as did center-mid Tori Dorr. Ali Ritter will take her defensive skills to Flagler College.
Those are huge losses for any program, but a returning contingent of eight juniors and one sophomore will now include veterans of two Final Four qualifiers. Graduates from the JV squad will help form a group itching for another run next year.
What might be remembered most about the just completed campaign was the 2-1 (4-3 on penalty kicks) regional final victory over Park Vista that propelled VBHS to the Final Four. Junior goalie Ashley Campbell made an incredible diving save with time running down to keep the game tied and send it to overtime.
Junior Katie Kenward recalled the drama vs. Park Vista after Makenzie Burton converted the fourth penalty kick for VBHS. “When the other team missed the final penalty kick, it was a great sense of relief and removed a lot of stress. We all ran out to Ashley and Makenzie and celebrated. It was just really exciting to realize that we were going to states.”
Kenward started the season at left outside-mid but was switched to left outside back. She prefers the latter because it better advantages her speed. Junior classmate Kirstin Mohr made the opposite transition from outside back to outside-mid. Dickens designed the system that way to encourage offense and defense from everyone on the field at any given time.
Kenward and Mohr started playing soccer when they were 4 years old. They have already amassed enough memories to last a lifetime and would like to add to that next year as seniors.
“This is an incredible feeling,” Mohr said about reaching the Final Four. “It’s something you’ve always wished and hoped for. We had been there before in ninth grade and lost the state championship. We really wanted to come back and win it all. We have been talking about this since ninth grade.”
The expectations next year for these two girls in particular will be similar to those expressed by Dickens when he arrived on the scene this year. The coach knew he had inherited something special and that a run for the state championship was a realistic possibility based on what occurred for Kenward, Mohr and the rest of the junior class in the ninth grade.
For additional motivation next year, the seniors can add what happened in the eleventh grade.