JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Ponte Vedra girls soccer team will play for a state championship.
The Sharks, the top team in the News4JAX Super 6 most of the season, crushed St. Thomas Aquinas 5-1 in the Class 6A state semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.
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Ponte Vedra (21-1-1) scored four goals in the first half and got a hat trick from Natalie Brooks to coast past the Raiders (13-5-2). The Sharks will face East Lake (17-2-4) in the championship on Saturday morning at 10.
While Brooks was the offensive headliner, putting Ponte Vedra on the board with a penalty kick just three minutes in, she wasn’t alone. Alex Patuel and Jenny Dearie added goals for Ponte Vedra, which has flipped the traditional script this year under coach Dave Silverberg. The longtime coach who has seven state titles (four at Nease, three with the Sharks) has typically fielded more defensive-focused teams. This year, Lily Morse, Dearie and Brooks have given Silverberg one of his best set of forwards in his time at Ponte Vedra.