The St. Thomas girls’ run of consecutive state championships is over.
Fort Myers stopped the Raiders’ streak at seven straight state championships with a 2-1 victory in eight rounds of penalty kicks. The Green Wave won in penalty kicks 5-4.
It was a stunning loss for a program that had made 12 straight state final four appearances.
The Green Wave (20-1) will host Boca Raton in a regional final game on Friday.
“The girls took the loss very hard,” coach Carlos Giron said. “We tried hard, but we just couldn’t finish our opportunities.”
Senior goalkeeper Leigh Steigerwald stopped 15 shots, including two critical saves in the first five rounds of penalty kicks. Steigerwald had spent her first three season at St. Thomas as backup.
“It’s always tough to lose,” Steigerwald said. “We worked hard and played hard, but it just wasn’t our game. Right now it’s very difficult. It’s part of me that will be incomplete. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
The Raiders were vying to tie a national record of eight consecutive state championships held by Denville Morris Catholic (N.J.)
The Raiders (25-3-2) already hold national records for consecutive victories (119), consecutive games without a loss (133), most goals in a season (238), most shutouts in a season (29 and consecutive shutouts (26).
Giron was optimistic St. Thomas will return to the state tournament.
“We just have to work hard for next year,” Giron said. “The girls grew up a lot today. We beat a lot of good teams this season. Inexperience kind of caught up to us.”
Kim Tingley scored for the Green Wave in the 22nd minute. Adrienne Briggs tied the score for the Raiders with a goal in the 60th minute. Shannon McMorrow had the assist.
