'Another step forward': Three-year wait ends, Stanton wins Gateway Conference girls soccer

JACKSONVILLE BEACH — Courtney Brown thought about trying for a birthday goal.

For the Stanton senior forward, the end result turned out even better.

"When you're in that position, everyone's kind of like, 'Shoot! Shoot the ball!'" she said. "It's easy to kind of get that in your head to shoot the ball, but if you look up, there's sometimes a better option."

Maybe the best option of all: Instead of shooting, Brown passed to teammate Emma Griner for the game-winning goal, overcoming three-time defending champion Fletcher 1-0 in Friday night's Gateway Conference high school girls soccer final at a rain-soaked Jack Taylor Stadium.

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Goalkeeper Savannah Yerger tallied 10 saves to shut the door the rest of the way for Stanton, historically the most successful program over the past 15 years of the Gateway tournament — including six consecutive triumphs from 2015 to 2020 — and now the champion of Duval County public schools once again.

"It's been four years for us," Stanton coach Brian Heggood said. "So I definitely relish this one."

SENIOR COMBINATION CONNECTS FOR STANTON

The Brown-Griner connection is nothing new for Blue Devils soccer.

For Stanton, Brown plays the role of the swift and efficient finisher in the box, an electric athlete who also shines on the flag football field. Griner, also an accomplished tennis player, brings the shooting accuracy to find the net from 30 yards and up.

Mix them together, and it's usually bad news for opponents. It's a resource Stanton couldn't deploy last season, when Brown was out injured for much of the campaign. This year, Brown is up to 18 goals with three assists, while Griner has 15 goals and 13 assists.

"We've been playing soccer together for eight years, club and in school, and we've been friends even longer than that," Brown said. "So we kind of have that synergy already."

Friday night's goal, breaking a first-half deadlock 35 minutes in, adds to their list of highlights. Brown, taking possession among Fletcher defenders at the edge of the box, passed up the shot and delivered a short ball for Griner to blast a 25-yard rocket to the top corner of the net.

"I saw an opening, and my coach said to shoot it and test the keeper," Griner said.

The goal was the second in as many games for Griner, who also scored Stanton's goal in Thursday's upset of No. 1 seed Atlantic Coast. Because of Tuesday night's rainstorms compressed the Gateway schedule, the Blue Devils (10-4-2) were coming off more than 180 minutes of soccer since Wednesday evening.

SAVANNAH YERGER SHINES IN GOAL

By now, junior goalkeeper Yerger is building a well-earned reputation as a master of knockout soccer.

A year ago, she earned road shutouts at Tocoi Creek and South Walton to lead a surprise Stanton charge to the final four. On Thursday, she stood firm in a penalty kick shootout to oust Atlantic Coast.

Against Fletcher, Yerger came through on the routine saves as well as the not-so-routine ones, particularly early in the second half when she forced a close-range shot from Sienna Dancel onto the crossbar.

"We knew they [Fletcher] would come out hard," Yerger said. "So at the half, we talked about stepping it up even harder, playing how we played against AC last night."

Yerger preserved the shutout despite a steady bombardment from the Senators, particularly Fletcher senior midfielder Allison Aquino, who was going for her fourth consecutive Gateway title and repeatedly fired on target from long range. Aquino's only shot that Yerger couldn't reach caromed off the crossbar and out in the final 15 minutes.

In 15 games this season, she now owns eight shutouts.

"Having Savannah in the goal and knowing that we have Emma and Courtney up top, I feel like we have the opportunity to be able to score against any team and we have a good chance at shutting out any team," Heggood said. "That gives us a lot of confidence."

BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE DELIVERS

The Blue Devils achieved their feat with a largely reshaped defense, including a new fullback pair in junior Hunter Van Asten and recently-promoted former junior varsity athlete Zya Refour.

"We've had a pretty long month where we've lost two of our starting defenders, and we really tried to plug in as many different people as we can in at the back," Heggood said. "I've just been overjoyed at how they have responded. We've had a lot of bend-but-don't-break."

Fletcher threatened several times, notably through the precise passing of Aquino and the quickness of forward Ava Amalberti, but rarely found space inside the box against a Stanton defense organized from the middle by vocal keeper Yerger and junior center backs Peyton Burris and Yuuki Wiesner.

For Stanton, Gateway success may be just the beginning.

While Fletcher (9-7-3) still has work to do in order to qualify for the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 6A regionals, Stanton stands out as a lock in Region 1-4A behind only South Walton and Bishop Kenny in the state ranking. Just ahead of the district tournament, they plunge into a stiff pre-playoff test Thursday against superpower St. Johns Country Day.

"Every game that we play," Brown said, "it's just kind of another step forward."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Gateway Conference girls soccer 2023-24: Stanton-Fletcher final