WESLEY CHAPEL — No matter how many players it graduates each year, it doesn’t seem anything can slow down the Cypress Creek girls’ soccer team when playoff time rolls around.
Once again, the Coyotes (8-6-1) are defying the odds, winning their FHSAA Class 5A first-round regional quarterfinal against Daytona Beach Seabreeze in a 2-1 double overtime thriller.
The Coyotes scratched back from a 1-0 deficit as the speedy Saige Magill got free on a breakaway to tie the match with six minutes left.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the second overtime appeared headed in the same direction. But with three minutes left, the Coyotes played a high ball into the box, and Lindsay Fulop beat the Seabreeze keeper to the ball and delivered a game-winning header.
“It makes sense why she is a Division I recruit,” coach Kendell McFayden said of the Florida Gulf Coast signee. “She shows why every game.”
The Coyotes are bidding for a potential third state semifinal appearance in four seasons.
McFayden inherited a team last year that lost the program’s all-time leading scorer (Allison Souers) to graduation and led it to a 15-5 record and the final four. He entered this season with the same predicament, following the graduation of leading scorer Ashley Blevins.
“I was very concerned about where we were going to get offense from,” McFayden said. “At the beginning of the year, we weren’t scoring many goals, but we were getting opportunities. It was frustrating. But we’ve really honed in on that.”
Perhaps no one more than Fulop, who leads the team with only eight goals. But six of those have come in the last seven games. In fact, Fulop only had one goal coming into this season, but has saved the best for last.
“That’s just a senior not wanting her high school career to end,” McFayden said. “She put the team on her back last night and did everything she could to win that game. She did not want it to be over.”
Magill, also a senior, has played a big role this season along with Kate Henderson and keeper Darcy Pittman. With boosts from Promising sophomore Makenna Lawler and a balance of strong leadership and solid defense, the Coyotes are punctuating a tough regular season schedule with a strong finish.
The Coyotes didn’t look like a playoff contender early in the season, starting out 2-6-1 and only scoring eight times. But they played in two elite tournaments, a reward for their state successes in recent years, and many of those losses were to ranked teams, like Steinbrenner, East Lake, Alonso and Sunlake.
“All of those games were before our winter break,” McFayden said. “I think we were 2-6 and I just told the girls, we knew what the beginning of the season was going to be about, but the real season starts when we get back from break.”
The Coyotes haven’t lost since, winning six straight heading into the region semifinals Feb. 11 against Auburndale, the No. 1 team in the region.
During its current winning streak, the Coyotes have outscored the opposition 23-5 and had its mettle tested in consecutive overtime wins over River Ridge (to win a fourth straight district championship) and Seabreeze.
“We don’t do anything the easy way,” McFayden said, with a laugh.
HOOPS PLAYOFFS
The Wiregrass Ranch and Wesley Chapel boys’ basketball teams were likely headed to the state playoffs anyway, but they cemented those postseason berths by advancing to the championship games in their respective districts.
The Bulls (17-8) knocked off Mitchell 55-48 in a Class 6A-9 semifinal. Junior Ajayden Jenkins, the area’s leading scorer, put in 18 points and sophomore Jackson Swedenburg added 17 as the Bulls overcame a rough night from the floor, shooting only 29%.
They advanced to the Feb. 7 title game against Land O’Lakes, which rolled over Sunlake 69-52.
Wesley Chapel advanced to the Class 5A-6 district final by beating Zephyrhills 44-34.