American Heritage girls soccer is this week's winner of the Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
Courtesy photo
The goal for the
American Heritage (Plantation) girls soccer team was simple. Win another state title.
Melanie Monteagudo, American Heritage
File photo by Gary McCullough
The Patriots made it look simple with a 29-0-1 record while outscoring opponents 207-7 en route to a third straight state 3A title.
American Heritage secured that crown with a 3-0 win over Merritt Island behind two goals from junior
Melanie Monteagudo and one by
Kopecki Michela.
For their success on the field and cohesion as a unit, the Patriots have been named the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
"For us as a team, it is a great feeling," said American Heritage coach Cindy Marcial, whose team has won 86 games in three seasons against three defeats and four ties. "We worked really hard all year. Our goal was to get to the championship and win another, so to achieve that was a great feeling."
It helped to have a goal scorer like Monteagudo, who finished with 63 goals and 29 assists on the season.
"She is not the type of player who plays for Melanie," Marcial said. "She plays for her team. If there's an open player in front of the goal, Melanie will pass them the ball. It is very important to have a player who is as good as her to be a team player."
Michela finished off her senior season with a team-high 30 assists.
Kopecki Michela, American Heritage
File photo by Gary McCullough
"She runs my whole team and runs the midfield," Marcial said. "She is a player who gets the tempo up and going for our team. She will definitely be missed next season."
The Patriots had too many contributors to count, but
Jessica Blair and
Zandy Soree had 21 goals apiece,
Martha Thomas had 16 goals as did
Isabella De Almagro. In goal,
Julia Kingsley,
Jennifer Ocampo and
Cristina Garwacki all performed superbly.
The team's lethal offense and stingy defense was a perfect storm, which led to a nearly perfect season.
"We have a very strong defense and we play the ball out of the backfield," Marcial said. "The whole team gets it before we score. We don't just kick it up to our offense. Our defense has to start passing and move the ball. As a team, we focused on possession ball and not just booting it up the field."
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.Do you know a team that deserves
consideration for Florida Team of the Week? Email us with your
nominations at FLteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.
