A beautiful pass and the perfect shot have the Ponte Vedra girls soccer team in familiar territory — the state championship game.
Lily Morse’s goal just after the second half water break was the winner as the Sharks beat North Fort Myers 2-1 in the Class 5A state semifinals on Wednesday in Auburndale. The Sharks will play Saturday at 1 p.m. for a shot at the fifth state championship in program history. Head coach Dave Silverberg has been there for all of them, including last season. Silverberg ranks among the best coaches in state history. He also won four championships at Nease.
Ponte Vedra is 4-3 in state championship games.
Ponte Vedra had lost to North Fort Myers in the regular season, but the Sharks were a much different team this time around. They gave up a goal just four minutes in but evened things up with just nine minutes to play before half.
Quinlee Irwin’s corner kick was on the money, with Lulu Consunji streaking toward the box and heading it in. Things stayed deadlocked until the final 20 minutes when Katie DeVincentis threaded a perfect ball to Morse, who was angling toward the goal. Instead of trying to change direction on her shot, Morse sent a rocket of a shot right by Brooke Hankinson.
The Sharks (16-3-2) will face Miami Lourdes or Cypress Creek in the championship game.