ESPNRISE:Aquinas topples Boyd and edges Nolan Catholic

FORT WORTH, Texas - McKinney Boyd (McKinney, Texas) lost a player last month who is now a finalist for American Idol. Oddly, the play at the Nolan Showcase resembles another hit TV show – Wipeout.

Through two days at the prestigious high school girls’ soccer event in Texas, the POWERADE FAB 50 Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams have taken losses. In addition, the No. 10 team lost Friday and the No. 11 squad is 0-2-1. Of course, many of the losses are to other FAB 50-ranked teams, yet the fall-out will result in a new-look Top 10 in next week’s national rankings.

The three teams making the strongest showings through Friday are No. 5 Plano West (Plano, Texas), No. 16 St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and No. 24 San Clemente (San Clemente, Calif.).

SIMPLY PERFECT: It took one shot off the foot of St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) senior Julie Schumacher to take down No. 1 McKinney Boyd, 1-0, on Friday afternoon at Nolan Catholic. The Navy-bound forward accepted a pass from Ana Cuffia about 30 yards from goal midway through the first half and launched a shot toward the far post, which clipped the post and ended up in the goal. The Raiders, ranked No. 16, made the first-half strike stand for their 17th straight shutout victory. Much of St. Thomas Aquinas’ success is tied to the exploits of Schumacher, who now has 26 goals this season. “I don’t score goals to tell you how many goals I have. I score goals to win games for my teammates,” Schumacher said. “I’ll take that goal (against Boyd) over any game where I score four goals, because this one won the game.”

Later Friday night, Aquinas ran its record to 18-0 with a dramatic 1-0 win over Nolan Catholic at Texas Christian University. Cuffia sprung Schumacher for a breakaway with less than two minutes remaining, and Schumacher calmly pushed a shot into the lower right corner. The score came just minutes after Nolan Catholic failed to convert a penalty kick.

“It was not our best game, but we got it done,” stated a relieved Carlos Giron, Aquinas’ longtime head coach.

Aquinas controlled most of the match, but a solid performance by Nolan keeper Paige Harris kept the match scoreless. Nolan Catholic was awarded a penalty kick with just under seven minutes remaining following a hard tackle in the box. Alex Rios, a Mexican youth national team player, took the penalty for the Vikings (8-7-2), and her shot hit the post and the ensuing cross was covered by Aquinas keeper Julia Kantor, who has been in net for all 18 Aquinas shutouts.

“As soon as it hit the post, I got back on my feet and took the cross,” Kantor said. “I got lucky.”

“Jules made herself big enough that [the Nolan shooter] had to go to a corner. Either she was going to miss or she was going to put it in the corner – we got lucky on that one.”

Aquinas faces San Clemente on Saturday morning with a chance to play itself into the national title chase.

HEARTBREAK HOST: Nolan Catholic coach Jay Fitzgerald summed up Friday’s 1-0 loss to Aquinas like this, “That’s Nolan soccer the past couple of decades. We’re good enough to get that one moment, that one situation. Eventually, one day, we’ll take advantage of that moment and that will make this program get over the hump. … We sagged and countered. We took away what they do best and made them work for a solution. In the end, that’s what they did – they found the solution and that’s why they are where they are [undefeated].”

In Fitzgerald’s 13 years as Nolan’s head coach, the team has been the private school state runner-up 11 times -- including the past 10 straight, losing all 11 final appearances to Ursuline Academy (Dallas, Texas). The last-minute loss to Aquinas was eerily similar to several state final defeats, prompting Fitzgerald to shake his head and say, “Heartbreaking."

LONG DAY: Players from San Clemente boarded a 7:30 a.m. flight in California, arrived in Texas at noon and played Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) at 6 p.m. There was certainly no jet lag as San Clemente rolled to a 4-0 victory in a meeting of FAB 50 teams at TCU. Janae Cousineau scored the first and third goals, and both were backbreakers for Carroll. Cousineau’s first strike came 10 minutes into the match and two minutes later Alex Reisinger gave San Clemente a 2-0 lead. Cousineau’s scored her second goal, both assisted by Tessa Andujar, two minutes into the second half to thwart any hope of a Carroll rally.

“On the flight, we were really intimidated by this tournament because we had no idea what to expect,” said Cousineau, who has committed to Texas A&M. “After that first goal, we pushed hard because we knew we can do it. Once we get the first goal, we don’t let down.”

MAKING A STATEMENT: Plano West (Plano, Texas) was dealt a setback when goalkeeper Abby Smith opted against playing high school soccer due to youth national team commitments. Even without the star keeper, the No. 5 Wolves, with mostly sophomores in the starting lineup, are off to a 3-0 start following victories Friday over No. 10 Clear Lake (Houston, Texas) and Grapevine (Grapevine, Texas). Sam Wolf and Casie Ramsier scored in Plano West’s 2-1 win over Clear Lake. Taylor Jackson scored the lone goal in the team’s 1-0 victory over Grapevine. Plano West’s six goals in the tournament have come from five players – including twins Casie and Brooke Ramsier.

STAT STARS: Lauren Bateman scored four goals as San Angelo Central (San Angelo, Texas) defeated Antonian (San Antonio, Texas), 6-0. ... Stanford-bound Chioma Ubogagu of Coppell (Coppell, Texas) scored twice as the Cowgirls routed Ursuline Academy, 3-0. ... Laramie Holifield scored both goals as Midland (Midland, Texas) defeated Nolan Catholic, 2-1. … Tessa Andujar of San Clemente assisted two goals in the team’s 4-0 win over Southlake Carroll. … Taylor Freeman scored twice as Hockaday (Dallas, Texas) defeated Martin (Arlington, Texas), 2-1. … Meagan Person had three assists and Morgan Fancher scored twice as The Colony (The Colony, Texas) handled Antonian, 5-0.

INJURED: Southlake Carroll senior and Notre Dame-bound Taylor Schneider sustained what coach Matt Colvin said was a high left ankle sprain in the first half of the team’s match with San Clemente. Colvin said it was unlikely Schneider will play in Saturday’s match against Klein Oak (Spring, Texas).

DAILY MVP: Schumacher was the MVP of Thursday’s action with two goals, and it’s hard not to give her the honors yet again Friday. The senior scored both goals as Aquinas knocked off No. 1 Boyd and Nolan Catholic, each by 1-0 margins.

AN IDOL? Holly Cavanagh was a member of the McKinney Boyd girls’ soccer team, but left the squad last week to pursue an a chance to make American Idol. Cavanagh, a singer, currently is in California, according to Boyd coach Jimmie Lankford.