Opposing goalie slams door on Aquinas girls’ lacrosse in closing seconds of state final

The image of Madison Stevens in net will long haunt the St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ lacrosse team.

Stevens, Bartram Trail’s goalkeeper, denied three shots in the final 30 seconds to repeat as state champions in Class 2A with a 5-4 win over the Raiders. It was lowest scoring final in tournament history.

“Offensively, we had trouble scoring on them,” St. Thomas coach Kevin Gilligan said. “They were pressing out on us. We wanted to feel them out and see what they do. We freelanced it. When they settled in, we settled in a little bit.

“To be in this position in states, a lot of them looked to someone else to do it, someone else to do it instead of playing like we’ve been playing.”

Stevens ended the game with 17 saves, including a quality shot from Sofia Mazariegos with less than five seconds remaining in regulation. The junior threw out her leg to try and get anything to deflect the shot and succeeded in doing so. Shortly thereafter, the Bartram Trail goalkeeper was surrounded by her teammates in a dog pile.

“I was just thinking that I was gonna do anything and everything I can to not lose this in the last couple of seconds,” Stevens said. “Attack and defense gave it their all, so I thought the least I could do was save it for them in the end.

“As a goalie, you take hundreds of shots during practice and training. Once your reaction is there, you just do your best. At that point, I probably should’ve went under with my hands rather than over, but you just throw a limb out there, hope it hits you, and hope for the best. That’s what happened.”

Aquinas (11-9) held Bartram Trail (19-4) off the scoreboard for the first 21-plus minutes, before Florida commit Ryann Frechette notched three goals in three minutes before the first half concluded to give the Bears a brief 3-2 lead, before Haley Farmer’s free position goal with six seconds remaining tied the game.

Defending Frechette was a key priority for St. Thomas, as Gilligan opted to put Kennedy Madison on Frechette the entire game. Madison is the daughter of longtime NFL defensive back and former Miami Dolphin Sam Madison.

“She’s our fastest defender,” Gilligan said. “She only started playing in ninth grade. We never found her niche, but she started playing just defense. She’s one of those kids that isn’t gonna give up. Her dad is a former NFL defensive back, and she says all the time she’s gonna run around like crazy like her dad did.”

The Raiders would go scoreless for the final 20:43 of action, as Taylor Bank’s goal gave St. Thomas a 4-3 lead. Adrionna Ferrera responded with a pair of goals 12 seconds apart to reclaim the lead for Bartram Trail.

“This one’s amazing,” Bartram Trail coach Megan Jackowiak said. “I’m so proud of them. I know a lot of a people underestimated us when we lost eight seniors. They came back, and it wasn’t the way we thought it would be, but they got it done and I’m just so proud of them.”

The Raiders’ program will look to add a second state championship next season, when it returns key role players in Mia Layne, Jordan Palmer, Mazariegos, and Jackie Feldman to build a strong nucleus for the road ahead.

“That last save was unbelievable,” Gilligan said of Stevens. “Cross cage, unbelievable. It’s fine, we’ll come back next year. That’s all we can do. We’ll keep practicing hard.”