Belief Street: How King's Academy girls soccer knocked out undefeated, state No. 2 Benjamin

The screams and hugs lasted for several minutes.

Even when it was over, after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, the King’s Academy girls soccer team almost didn’t believe it had gotten this done.

Not without its superstar Lola Hathorne missing the contest because of her brother’s wedding. Not against an unbeaten Benjamin squad, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A and No. 2 overall in Florida, that had pummeled the Lions, 5-0, in the district playoffs.

On a balmy Friday night at the Benjamin School’s soccer field, undermanned King’s Academy slayed the dragon with an all-defensive game plan. The Lions took the Buccaneers to penalty kicks and clinched it on sophomore Sophia Cueto’s low shot off the Benjamin goalie’s outstretched hand. The Lions, officially 0-0 winners, move on to the 3A state regional finals.

“We never thought we’d get here,’’ Lions star Mia Mackrey said. “But we have a saying: “Stay on 'Belief Street.'" We believed in ourselves and our teammates.’’

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With her players shouting and whooping it up all around her, coach Bridget Mackrey said: “Oh my God, this is incredible. We had a game plan and stuck to it. The girls played their hearts out — every single one of them. It’s an amazing feeling.’’

Without the explosive Hathorne, coach Mackrey placed star daughter, Mia, a potent midfielder/striker, on the backline. Benjamin couldn’t muster a sustained attack or play with the usual pace it is known for.

Mackrey never had an official shot on goal, of course, but she boomed kicks out of danger across the Palm Beach Gardens night.

And its tall freshman goalie, Miranda Knolls, was in the right spot at the right time all evening, flawlessly turning away every chance Benjamin had, then stopping two of the five penalty-kick chances after the 20-minute scoreless overtime.

But Knolls couldn’t do it without her defense and Mackrey, a freshman who undoubtedly is headed toward a Division I soccer future. In overtime, Mackrey headed out one shot attempt and another King’s Academy player saved another shot in the crease, kicking it away.

“You get used to playing an attacking position and then all of a sudden you get switched to defense,’’ Mackrey said. “It’s an adjustment but you have to handle it in these situations.’’

Coach Mackrey said her daughter had experience as a defender from club teams.

“Mia is a natural defender in club ball,’’ coach Mackrey said. “She needed to be back there today. She won every 50-50 battle. It was awesome, so cool.’’

The tears were aplenty as Benjamin coach Hillary Carney huddled her girls in a circle after the stunning ending to its season.

“It’s very unexpected,’’ Carney said. “They had a great game plan and executed it perfectly. We fell short. It’s tough for someone like Lily (White) who's been the heartbeat of the program for so long. This is a really tough one to swallow. We have to regroup and prepare for next year.’’

Benjamin finished the 2023-24 ride at 17-1 and searching for answers.

“With Lola missing, I’m sure there was some complacency, especially in the first half,’’ Carney said. “We didn’t move the ball too fast. There wasn’t tempo to our game which is one of our strengths. It was a bad day to have a bad game.’’

Benjamin’s season ended last year in the state regional semifinals on penalties to Nova University High on the same field. Carney felt it was King’s Academy’s aim to get the game to that juncture.

Indeed, when the whistle sounded ending the 20-minute overtime, the Lions celebrated while the Buccaneers players walked to the sidelines dejectedly with the count at 0-0.

“It is tough to lose on penalty kicks,’’ Carney said. “We prepare and practice for them but it’s luck of the draw. They played us to penalties and did a great job. At that point, it’s a coin flip.’’

Benjamin’s White, Gabrielle Gambale and Vanezza Zito made their penalty shots but it was one shy. Mackrey, Iris Gardner, Taylor Vernie and Cueto tallied for the Lions.

If Cueto didn’t convert, the match would’ve extended to a sixth round of PKs.

“I was so nervous,’’ Cueto said. “I was going for the left corner. (The goalie) dove for it, got a hand on it and it was just a little faster than her. It was an incredible experience running to my teammates. It was so much fun.’’

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: How King's Academy girls soccer knocked out undefeated Benjamin