Frederica Academy girls win first soccer state title since 2011

“It feels amazing,” said girls head coach Gabe Gabriel. “The girls fully deserve it for the all the work and the time that they’ve put in, and the commitment. We’ve changed our culture at Fred, and we’ve really put the time and the work in.

“It’s, if not year-round, close to it. I think that made the difference, and we were finally able to kick that door down.”

The Lady Knights won seven state championships from 2003-11, but the program had gone through a stretch of painful close encounters in the years since the run came to an end.

Frederica Academy was one of the final four teams remaining in the hunt in six of seven seasons since 2015, but the program’s season came to an end in the semifinals five times during that span, including last season. Two years ago, Frederica fell in the championship game.

But there would be no such heartbreak this year.

In a rematch against St. Andrews, which won the regular-season matchup between the teams, Frederica survived some early pressure before shifting the tides about 10 minutes into the contest.

A free kick by the Lady Knights near the 24-minute mark in the first half landed in the chest of the Lady Lions’ keeper, and seven minutes later, Katie Eckert’s cross was just wide of the net.

Frederica Academy lined up for its first corner kick with 15 minutes remaining in the opening half, and Mary Ford Fitzjurls delivered a ball inside the box to set up a header that was just off the mark. But the near miss was a sign of things to come.

With three-and-a-half minutes until halftime, Fitzjurls set up for another corner kick, this time the ball found Audrey Shingler, who deposited it in the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Set pieces proved to be Frederica’s greatest strength in the contest. The Lady Knights took 13 shots on goal, most coming off free or corner kicks.

“Mary Ford has been great all year for us for set pieces,” Gabriel said. “She gives a different dynamic that we haven’t always had, and we’ve got girls now that are really growing to attack that ball. It comes to mind Audrey Shingler, who scored tonight. That’s maybe her seventh or eighth goal off of set pieces and headers like that so that’s a whole different ballgame that you add to the open play stuff, and it was used tonight. It helped us game control and then really open it up to run a play.”

Fitzjurls took advantage of a penalty kick just six minutes into the second half to push the Frederica advantage to 2-0, and suddenly the state title was within grasp.

St. Andrews had a few opportunities in the second half — a free kick sailed too high and wide right a few minutes after Fitzjurls’ goal — but they were few and far between. Smelling the blood in the water, Frederica continued to keep the pressure on with its attack until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

While the state championship is the eighth for the Frederica Academy girls, its the first Gabriel and a new generation of Lady Knights.

“I hope it’s the start of something similar,” Gabriel said. “We’ve only had one senior this year, so I hope it’s the start of something where it becomes a habit. We’ve been knocking on the door, but now that we’ve crossed that boundary, it’s early to say ‘Can we do it again?’ but that’s my nature.

“I want to go again. I want to win multiple ones, so hopefully we can continue that legacy that group on to 2011 did.”