By MVA Sports
The 2024 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) girls soccer Class 3A Region 2 championship game may be considered one of the most unpredictable, yet pulsating, edge of your seat games one may ever witness.
The game saw both teams score via own goals. The game also saw the Eagles blow three one goal leads, only to see the latter two reclaimed less than a minute later. And in the end, the youngest player on the team blasted the game winner with just twenty seconds remaining to seal the regional championship for the team.
Montverde Academy defeated Berkeley Prep 4-3 in the championship game of the 2024 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Region 2 championship at Dan Newlin Injury Attorney Stadium on Wednesday in front of a very spirited and supportive MVA fanbase.
Eighth grader Joy Palacios received a rushed corner kick from Lola Ressler with time winding down and blasted the game winner ending a game what seemed destined to go into overtime.
“I was at the right place at the right time. I feel like Lola and I have this natural connection, we just always know where we’re going to be,” Palacios said.
The Palacios game winner came just fifty-eight seconds after Berkeley Prep tied the game in the seventy-ninth minute of play.
Earlier in the game, MVA jumped out in front on a first half goal by Estefania Gonzalez in the thirteenth minute of play.
Three and a half minutes later, Berkeley Prep tied the score on a goal by Kate Anderson, and the teams remained knotted at 1-1 into halftime.
Twenty seconds into the second half, the Eagles received a gift after a botched pass by a Berkeley Prep defender slipped away from the Buccaneers’ goalkeeper and crossed the goal line for an own goal to put MVA up 2-1.
Then in the sixty-fourth minute of play, Berkeley Prep benefitted from an own goal of its own to tie the score.
But forty-five seconds later, the Eagles regained the lead on a goal by Caroline Ritchey to make the score 3-2.
But with just over a minute to play, Anderson’s second goal of the contest for the Buccaneers knotted the score for a third time in the game, setting the stage for Palacios’ game winner just before regulation time was set to expire.
As a result of the win, MVA is now the regional champion for the second year in a row, and the Eagles will play in the state semifinals against Regional 1 champion P.K Yonge on Wednesday, February 21 at 1:00 pm at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale. If the Eagles win, they will play for the state championship on Saturday, February 24 at 10:00 am in Auburndale against the winner between NSU University School and Edgewood.
Learn more at mvasports.com.