Lost for season with knee injury, FPC senior Savannah O'Grady relishes chance to coach
DAYTONA BEACH — With Friday's District 2-7A semifinal knotted 0-0 at halftime, a win-or-go-home match for both teams, Flagler Palm Coast's girls soccer team gathered near the goal it had just defended against Seminole for 40 minutes. One voice emerged louder than the others, challenging the Bulldogs to find their energy and to remember what was on the line.
"Play for our culture. Play for pride. Play for the team you represent," senior midfielder Savannah O'Grady bellowed as she slapped her hands together. "Do the things we're great at."
FPC found the go-ahead goal five minutes after the intermission through freshman Ivy Chen, and an insurance strike not long after as Kaitlyn Steiner's direct free kick crashed off the crossbar, then the opposing goalkeeper and across the line.
Postseason picture: Volusia-Flagler area high school soccer district tournament schedule
O'Grady's words have resonated with the youthful team, especially since the Bulldogs' two-year captain and leading goal-scorer was lost for the season Dec. 5 with a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus in her right knee. Coaching is in her DNA after all; her father, Patrick O'Grady, has served as an assistant men's basketball coach at Embry-Riddle since the 2019-20 season.
"I've been around it my whole life, and I've always wanted to coach," O'Grady said.
"When you're out there on the field with those girls, and you see their potential, and you know what they are capable of and you get to know every single player individually, that really helped translate to the role that I have now. … It was a hard transition, but it also at the same time came just naturally because it's what I am built for."
O'Grady — who found the back of the net 11 times in nine matches, despite playing at the base of midfield — knew almost immediately she had suffered a significant, likely season-ending knee injury. She felt a pop, let out several agonizing screams and needed to be carried off the field by longtime FPC coach Pete Hald.
In the moment, O'Grady feared for her future, telling Hald, "All I want is to be able to play college soccer." Fortunately, she will have an opportunity at Eastern Florida State College, planning to redshirt and rehabilitate her knee.
"That girl has really worked her tail off since our season ended last year," Hald said. "She made the commitment to go to the (North Florida Soccer Academy) in Jacksonville four days a week, missing my stuff to go, because she felt it was that important to get better at the game technically and increase her good habits. All that time she spent on the road going to that, it's so much more than just playing club. And everybody's seen it, she's phenomenal. Her level of play raised to a different level."
One of FPC's eight freshmen, Chen said the mood of the team dropped when O'Grady went down. The Bulldogs finished a 3-0 win over Matanzas that evening, but lost each of their next five contests — denting their chances to earn a wild card in a stacked Region 1-7A featuring St. Johns heavyweights Bartram Trail and Creekside, among others.
O'Grady always has the right words to say, Chen said, and delivers them in a direct but loving manner.
"You know what you're doing wrong, and you know if you ever need to fix something to go to her," Chen said. "She'll tell you the truth."
Seeking its first district championship since 2017-18, FPC will face top-seeded Lake Mary at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Bringing home hardware has been a personal goal of O'Grady during her four years with the Bulldogs, and that has not changed — even if her role in obtaining it has.
"It would mean the absolute world to me," she said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school soccer: Savannah O'Grady finds coaching voice after knee injury
