AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Bartram Trail girls soccer team saved its best for the last — 20 seconds.
Locked in a tie with hard-charging powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, the Bears hit the version of a walk-off shot in the second overtime to win the Class 6A state championship 4-3 on Saturday night at the Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale. Among Bartram’s four state championships, this was the most unforgettable.
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With time running out, the Bears were awarded a corner kick. Bella Abinsay spotted the ball with urgency and then let it fly. It went over the first cluster of players and right into Ali Fletcher’s path. The senior headed it in with 19 seconds left for the winner. Head coach Jennifer Rodriguez said that she was already mapping out which players to send out in the penalty kick round as the clock ticked down.
Instead, the Bears shaved the final 19 seconds off and celebrated a title that felt out of reach early on.
Bartram and Aquinas swapped goals in furious fashion in the opening half. Aquinas peppered the Bears in the first half and pushed three goals across, the go-ahead scored in the 38th minute by Claudia Timmer Rodriguez. Defense stiffened after that, with Lily Holden making save after save and the Bears muscling up near the goal. Victoria Carstens had a sliding deflection in the box of an Aquinas shot in the final minutes when there was no margin for error.
Bartram wouldn’t score again until the 69th minute when Abinsay got a foot on a ball and it had just enough on it to beat the keeper. Aquinas outshot Bartram 14 to five and largely set the offensive pace. Brooke Gosse had a pair of goals in the first half for Bartram.
