Amia Ocanas, Trinity Sturgis save Senior Night for Glades Day in comeback
BELLE GLADE — Amia Ocanas linked up with Glades Day’s Kinley Seider to save senior night for the Gators on Thursday night.
Just moments before the final whistle, Ocanas hit a ricochet off of her belly, sending it goalbound to cap off a dramatic comeback.
After defeating Moore Haven 5-1 in the reverse fixture back in November, Glades Day might have expected another walk in the park.
What they did not expect was to be down two goals with less than 10 minutes left in the contest.
Trinity Sturgis cut the deficit off of a cross from Seider to put the Gators within a goal before fellow freshman Ocanas, The Post’s most recent Athlete of the Week, found the equalizer in the final moments.
“When I got that goal, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we only need one more,’” Sturgis said of the first goal. “I got excited. That lifted up the team and we got another one.”
Ocanas, who has been on a goal-scoring frenzy in recent weeks, penetrated the Terriers’ defense a number of times, but the Gators couldn’t quite find the quality in the final third — not until the last possible moment.
“I was thinking, ‘We need to beat this team’ because we beat them once before and I didn’t want to lose on our senior night,” Ocanas said.
Thanks in part to the freshman duo, Glades Day’s three seniors — Seider, Amy Martinez and Herileanna Velazquez — were able to celebrate their high school careers in style and with a smile.
“The adrenaline is pumping, and I was like, ‘If I don’t win on my own senior night, I’m going to be mad,’” Seider said. “I just kind of boot it and curve and hope it lands somewhere, and thank God it did. I was so grateful for Amia. I was like, ‘Thank God she’s on this team.’”
While Glades Day likely went into the contest hoping for an easy 3 points, Thursday night’s game ending with a share of the spoils was a small miracle.
“We have some amazing team leaders,” head coach Angee Lohmann said. “I’m so grateful for them to be examples for the younger girls because I have sixth and seventh graders on the field as starters.”
After the graduation of a number of seniors last season, including Hana Lohmann, it’s encouraging to see the learning curve shortening for such a young Gators squad.
It’s not the first comeback Glades Day has mounted in the final moments, and perhaps it won’t be the last.
Entering the winter break, the young Gators are chomping.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Glades Day soccer stars Ocanas, Sturgis help Gators mount comeback
