As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
On Tuesday night, that was the case for Vanguard’s girls soccer team as the previously undefeated Knights finally met their match, losing to the Bishop Kenny Crusaders (17-3) in the Region 1-4A championship by a score of 5-1.
The region title match at Jacksonville’s Bishop Kenny High School on Feb. 17 was a meeting between the region’s top seeds as Bishop Kenny was seeded No. 1 and Vanguard was seeded No. 2.
When previewing the game, Vanguard head coach Jay Fratello knew he and his team would have their hands full against the Crusaders, noting Bishop Kenny, much like Vanguard, possessed a high-powered offense.
And on Tuesday night, Bishop Kenny, ranked the 22nd team in the state by the FHSAA’s rankings and No. 23 in the nation by MaxPreps, had the better offensive showing en route to drawing the curtain on Vanguard’s magical season.
Bishop Kenny freshman Shea Donovan’s first-half goal opened scoring for the Crusaders. Donovan added a second-half goal while Cate Petre, Stella Jones and Abrianna Delgatti — the last with a free kick from across the halfway line — also scored late for Bishop Kenny.
Heading into the region final match, Vanguard hadn’t tasted defeat in more than a year. That’s right, the Knights hadn’t dropped a match all season long, marching into Jacksonville with a flawless 21-0 record.
Of those 21 games, Vanguard’s defense, anchored by Ruby Scott and Northern Michigan University commit Addison Fratello, had kept opponents scoreless in 17 of them. Tuesday night’s game was the first time all season the Knights had given up more than one goal in a match.
Meanwhile, Vanguard’s offense entered the night averaging more than six goals per game, led by sophomore Kendal Davis (2 goals per game), senior Ashlyn Wan (1.4 goals per game) and junior Rilyn Reardon (0.9 goals per game).
Tuesday night’s single goal, scored by junior Laurel Richmond, was the lowest offensive output by the Knights since their season opener against The Villages, when they won in a 2-0 decision.
While the loss to Bishop Kenny means Vanguard fell short of its goal of a state championship — something Jay Fratello felt confident the Knights had the pieces to accomplish — it doesn’t take away from Vanguard’s brilliant run, which featured a county and district championship.
The bad news? Vanguard will graduate five seniors from this year’s team — including its defensive tandem in Addison Fratello and Scott, in addition to one of its leading scorers in Wan.
The good news? The Knights will have the opportunity to bring back 15 players from this year’s squad. Of those returners, Vanguard could see two of its leading scorers in Davis and Reardon return, as well as Richmond and goalkeeper Arden Kerley.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Vanguard girls soccer’s magical season ends in FHSAA region title game
Reporting by Ainslie Lee, Gainesville Sun / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
