Lakeland Christian dethrones St. Johns Country Day for third state title

DELAND — The Lakeland Christian juniors and seniors already have left a legacy by being two-time state champions. So what does winning a third consecutive state championship and knocking off 11-time defending champion Orange Park St. Johns Country Day add to that legacy?

The Vikings have plenty of time to ponder that question while they celebrate their inspirational victory 2-1 win over the Spartans on Wednesday afternoon in the 2023 FHSAA Class 2A Girls Soccer State Championships at Spec Martin Stadium.

Her teammates made sure Lily Harrington hoisted the championship trophy after it was awarded after her two goals two minutes apart in the final nine minutes provided LCS with the winning goals, but it was a gritty effort by every LCS player who played that also carried the day.

Lakeland Christian's win not only stopped St. Johns' championship streak, but it also stopped the Vikings' 10-game losing streak. It also marked Lakeland Christian's second win of the season over a nationally ranked top-10 team. St. Johns is ranked No. 4 in the nation by MaxPreps, and earlier this season, LCS defeated Montverde, currently the No. 3 team in the nation. LCS is ranked No. 28.

"Everyone wants to do it, and we got the opportunity to do it," Harrington said. "It's a great way to end my high school career. We just put it all out there."

For good measure, LCS' win also stopped St. Johns' 59-game playoff winning streak.

"Literally, this is the moment we've lived for the past 12 years — just to dethrone them and now it's happening," senior Maddie Lopez said.

While his players were celebrating wildly, head coach Jason Streets was subdued as he was mentally drained.

"I am so shocked," Streets said. "We defended the hardest we've ever defended, especially in the second half. It felt like it was almost slipping. Then Maddie makes that run and gets that corner, and I told Lily to just give us a chance."

Prior to the last 20 minutes, Lopez played a more defensive role as an outside midfielder as the Vikings used a new formation and focused on defending. Streets said that if the game remained scoreless, he would then open it up in the final 20 minutes.

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Lopez was put up top coming out of the second-half water break and immediately gave a strong scoring chance. She made a strong run down the right side, made a move to give her an open lane toward the center and sent a centering pass. St. Johns, however, was able to clear the ball.

In the 79th minute, she made another big run down the right side and was tripped up. She was shaken up on the play as she hit her head on the ground but later returned.

Harrington came back in to replace her and took the corner kick. She has scored previously this season on a corner kick.

"I've been practicing my corner kicks, and I had a feeling that with the way the wind was blowing that I could get it in," Harrington said. "I was like, 'He just put me on, I need to get this in.'"

Less than two minutes later, Kaelyn Diaz collected a long pass, got behind a defender and made a run toward the goal. As another defender came over, Diaz slip a pass to Carly Sabat, whose initial shot was blocked. The ball came out to Harrington, who then scored her second goal.

"I knew Lily was there, and I was so glad she finished it," Sabat said.

With the two-goal lead, LCS' focus was simply to defend over the final seven-plus minutes.

"Everything that was going through our head was, we have to defend," Sabat said. "We can't make any mistakes and we have to drop back and give it our all."

St. Johns avoided the shutout with a goal by CeCe Nowicki but it came with about 35 seconds left to play.

Streets praised the defense led by Destinee Carroll along with Gretchen Caswell, Emily Smith, and Halle Johnson. Goalkeeper MacKenzie Marotz was sterling, catching everything that came her way without a bobble.

Midfielder KJ Straub and Ori Gotauco were all over the field, stopping offensive charges and helping to contain the midfield.

"I had to guard one of their top players, No. 14 (Sydney Schmidt) who is a freshman," Straub said. "She is one of the top players I've seen. It was so, so difficult going up against them. They played such a great game."

Both teams had scoring chances in the first half. St. Johns had about a half-dozen corner kicks and some deep throw-ins, but LCS defended all of them. Streets was concerned with St. Johns' ability to score off set pieces.

Lakeland Christian's best scoring chance came midway through the half when Ella Williams was taken down just outside the box. On the ensuing free kick, Carroll, instead of shooting at the goal, slid the ball to Gotauco, who shot a hard pass to Mari Carr who had moved in front of the goal. Carr got a foot on it but it deflected high.St. Johns had several shots in front that hit the crossbar or sailed high.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian dethrones St. Johns Country Day for 3rd state title