logo
South Florida HEAT's first trip to girls' soccer state semifinals ends with lopsided loss

South Florida HEAT's first trip to girls' soccer state semifinals ends with lopsided loss

Miami Herald27-02-2025

After years of success, only to be turned away many times in the regional finals, the South Florida HEAT girls soccer team finally made it to the state final four.
But their first state 'experience' turned out to be a quick one.
The HEAT, (which stands for Home Education Athletic Teams) a collection of home-schooled students who have no school or home field, were faced with the gigantic task of taking on Orange Park St. Johns Country Day - a 14-time state champion.
The result was predictable.
Country Day, which won 11 straight state titles from 2012-22, scored just 47 seconds into the game and never slowed down, mowing down the HEAT 6-0 in a Class 1A state semifinal on Wednesday night at Spec Martin Stadium.
The Spartans, 19-3-1, advance to Saturday's 1A championship game where they will take on Hobe Sound Pine School at 1 p.m. and look to tie St. Thomas Aquinas for the most titles in the state with 15. They were tied for second last week when Plantation American Heritage won No. 14.
'We hung in there for a little while but I guess eventually the dam broke,' HEAT coach Bob Bemis said. 'But the girls never gave up, even right to the very end and I can't be more proud of them for that. All heart. What will they remember from tonight? They'll remember the experience, they'll remember the loss, but they'll also know that they left everything out here. The victory is in the effort and that's what they'll take from tonight.'
Bemis could only watch helplessly as his outgunned players did everything they could to hang in there in the first half.
Even after Calli Berang popped that early first minute goal in off a perfectly placed free kick from 20 yards out on the left side, HEAT players didn't flinch. The game was still a one goal game at the first half water break but then Country Day struck quickly.
First came a foul by HEAT player Hannah Brankamp in the penalty box giving Cece Nowicki a penalty kick which she converted and just 60 seconds later, Reygan Ropero scored off an assist from Madisyn Bowman to make it 3-0 at the half.
The Spartans then came out in the second half and slam dunked things away by scoring three goals in a five-minute span to make it 6-0 with 28 minutes left and that was that.
'We obviously knew what we had in front of us going into tonight,' said HEAT senior captain Eden Greenfield, who led her team this season with 52 goals. 'I'll admit we were pretty nervous because we had heard so much about them and everything they had accomplished. Honestly, for what our expectations were, I actually think we played better than we thought we would. Even if the score was 6-0, I'm proud of my team and really glad that we got up here and got to play here. It's always been a dream for me to play at state and that was realized tonight.'
The game also marked the end of a two-decade career for Bemis as the head coach and athletic director of the program as he announced that he was stepping down. He and his wife Gina started the ministry in 2004 and built it to the point where they once had a total of 11 athletic teams going at one time including football.
'A great run here but time to make room for some younger blood,' quipped Bemis with a wink. 'Someone a little younger, a little more into social media because athletics and athletes are changing in general. We're proud of what we built here and want to keep the success going.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Spartans ranked just outside top 20 in latest preseason poll for 2025-26 season
Spartans ranked just outside top 20 in latest preseason poll for 2025-26 season

USA Today

time8 hours ago

  • USA Today

Spartans ranked just outside top 20 in latest preseason poll for 2025-26 season

Spartans ranked just outside top 20 in latest preseason poll for 2025-26 season Michigan State basketball is listed among the top 25 teams heading into next season in Jon Rothstein's latest rankings update. Rothstein released an updated batch of preseason rankings for the 2025-26 season on Monday, which had the Spartans as a top 25 squad. Michigan State came in at No. 21 in Rothstein's updated rankings. Among Big Ten teams, Rothstein had Michigan State come in at No. 5. The Spartans were behind the following Big Ten teams: Purdue (No. 1), Michigan (No. 5), UCLA (No. 6) and Oregon (No. 20). Rothstein's rankings -- which goes up to 45 teams -- also included the following teams from the Big Ten behind the Spartans: Illinois (No. 22), Wisconsin (No. 23), Ohio State (No. 26), Washington (No. 30), USC (No. 33), Maryland (No. 35) and Nebraska (No. 41). Rothstein is on the lower end when it comes to Michigan State compared to his peers. The Spartans have typically been ranked in the No. 15 - 20 range in similar preseason polls, so this spot is in line with those but just a smidge lower than others. Check out the complete rankings from Rothstein by clicking on the post below: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

Saints make it official, process former All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk's retirement
Saints make it official, process former All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk's retirement

USA Today

time11 hours ago

  • USA Today

Saints make it official, process former All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk's retirement

Last Monday, the New Orleans Saints officially processed Derek Carr's retirement, bringing his NFL career to a close. One week later, they did the same with former All-Pro right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, per the daily transactions wire. We knew this was coming, but now there's no taking it back. Ramczyk won't wear No. 71 again, but its new owner Kelvin Banks Jr. ought to do it twin retirements leave the Saints with two vacancies on their 90-man offseason roster; they currently have 44 players under contract offensively, with 37 of them on defense, and four specialists (plus Irish kicker Charlie Smyth, who has an exemption as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program). How they'll address those two openings is anyone's guess, but we have some ideas. The team has recently met with free agents like wide receiver Gabe Davis, defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard, and cornerback Asante Samuel about the salary cap? This year, the Saints are carrying a total of $76.9 million in dead money from contracts with players no longer on the team -- $13.4 million of which accounts for Carr, and just over $11 million of which is from Ramczyk. In 2026, those numbers go up to $36.6 million for Carr and $11.9 million for Ramczyk, for a total of $48.6 million in dead money on next year's books. That's after Ramczyk agreed to lower this year's salary to the minimum with Carr forfeiting $30 million to facilitate their retirements. The Saints did get a small $1.255 million cap credit for Ramczyk retiring, just like they did for Carr, but most of those savings were wiped out by lesser contracts in the $1.03 million neighborhood replacing them above the top-51 luck to Ramczyk in retirement. Whether he's planning to take up coaching the next generation of linemen or go home to Wisconsin and log a lot of hours in his deer stand, he can do it knowing he achieved a career as a player that anyone would be proud article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL retirement news: Saints process Ryan Ramczyk's papers

Michigan State baseball lands commitment from Oakland OF transfer, Macomb native
Michigan State baseball lands commitment from Oakland OF transfer, Macomb native

USA Today

time13 hours ago

  • USA Today

Michigan State baseball lands commitment from Oakland OF transfer, Macomb native

Michigan State baseball lands commitment from Oakland OF transfer, Macomb native Michigan State baseball is adding to their roster for the 2026 season, dipping into the transfer portal for a local product. Macomb (MI) native Trent Rice will be heading to Michigan State after spending two years with Oakland University. He will bring two years of eligibility with him to East Lansing. He played his high school baseball at Marine City Cardinal Mooney Catholic. Rice, a 5-foot-11 and 180 pound outfielder, is a speedster that is going to bring a dynamic element to the Spartans baseball program. In 2024, Rice appeared in 55 of 58 games for the Golden Grizzlies, having a slash line of .253/.355/.356 while recording two home runs and 22 RBIs. He stole 41 bases on 46 attempts, earning his way on the Horizon League All-Freshman team. He followed up his freshman performance with a very similar sophomore performance, slashing .253/.365/.390 with four homeruns and 29 RBIs. On the basepaths, he went 39-for-46 stealing bases. A welcomed, dynamic addition to the Spartans team. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store