DELAND — Niceville keeper Eden Shaw was adamant there was interference. The head referee disagreed.
Camilla Velez’s left footer from outside the box floated in the tailwind above the reach of a grounded Shaw, standing 6-foot-1, in the 21st minute of Wednesday’s 6A state championship, and the goal proved to be the difference in a 1-0 win for lauded powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas.
“You heard me yelling,” Niceville coach Kelly Fernandez said of her objection to the goal. “I think that, as a player, if I get underneath the player, and touch them in the small of their back, and knock them off, that’s what she did. That’s pretty much what Eden said happened. She said, ‘She got behind me and I would have jumped, and she didn’t allow me to jump cause she touched the grid on my back.’
“But that’s the game, I mean, they snuck it through, and we shouldn’t have let them shoot to start with.”
The Raiders’ loud, continued celebration was not that of a program with an FHSAA record 16 state titles. It spoke more of a program that experienced heartbreak in last year’s state title and hadn’t won it all since 2017.
Niceville players, meanwhile, couldn’t help but collapse together on the field and in huddles, no Eagle left alone in consolation. They’d won together, outscoring foes 15-0 since the start of regionals and becoming just the second team in program history to advance to the title game (2016 was the other). They’d lose together, just the second time in 22 games this season they’d face this postgame reality.
Doing what no team could before them in the postseason, St. Thomas Aquinas (23-2-1) brought a physicality that seemed to frustrate Niceville’s possession-minded attack while speeding up the game. The Raiders were blown for five times the whistles of Niceville, but the result was just two yellow cards and no reds. As physical as the Raiders were, it was an organized advantage that pushed the boundaries while netting the game’s only goal.
St. Thomas Aquinas keeper Aimee Colson denied Niceville’s two best scoring opportunities of the night, first taking away Rylee McIness’ angle on a shot from the left side of the box in the 55th minute and later on a 1-on-1 up the middle with Taylor Kerle in the 73rd minute.
The Eagles finish the season 19-2-1 with a 102-8 margin of victory, its defense posting 16 shutouts and its offense held off the score sheet for the first time all season Wednesday. Michelle Melancon’s eight goals in the postseason led eight different goal scorers, while Abbey Kuritz’ nine assists paved the way.
Melancon is one of eight seniors to graduate this offseason. But Kuritz, along with a host of stars like Shaw, Delaney Diehl, Eden Wise, Molly Johnson, Kerle, McInness, Courtney Gehringer and Payten Hart return.
“I told them after this game we had off till spring break, and they were upset,” Fernandez said. “That’s what you want to hear. They’re like, ‘Wait, why? That long?’ I told them that before we came down here, and they were like, ‘That seems like a long time, coach. Why?’ So they enjoy each other. They enjoy playing. The seniors that are gone are going to go play more at their respective college.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Niceville girls soccer denied 6A state title on contested goal
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
