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By Sabrina Gornisiewicz
Special to Islander News
Nobody had done it before.
Not in any of the years of Key Biscayne Soccer Club history. Not one girls team, in any age group, had ever brought home a Florida state title.
That changed this month in Auburndale, when the KBSC U13 Elite Girls defeated the Plant City Lancers, 2-1, to win the 2026 Florida Youth Soccer Association State Cup and become the first girls team in club history to be crowned state champions.
The win was not something many saw coming. The team entered the state tournament carrying more nerves than certainty, and even some of the players admitted they were unsure of what to expect.
But if their road to states was unexpected, and the championship itself was unexpected, the way they showed up was not.
They went in together. Disciplined, confident, and composed.
“What makes this group special is that they stay together as one,” Coach Mario Ferro said. “They want to compete, but they also want to have fun as a team. They said they wanted to play as one family, and I think that is what makes them special.”
For the players, the final whistle was more than the end of a game. It was the culmination of a season shaped by long practices, tight matches, and a belief in each other that grew stronger with every week.
That belief was tested in the second half of the championship game.
After falling behind 1-0, the U13 Elite Girls were running out of time. With the clock winding down, they earned and converted a penalty kick to tie the match. Then, in the final two minutes, they struck again, scoring the goal that would deliver the first girls state championship in club history.
“When they scored, we had two options. We could drop our heads, or we could understand there was still a lot of time,” Coach Mario said. “No matter what is happening, you have to stay confident. Confidence, hard work, teamwork is what I think about in games like this.”
The winning goal came in the kind of moment players dream about but rarely get to live. Julia Lopez won the ball under pressure, carried it forward, and made a split-second decision. She had thought about passing, but when she saw the opening, she took the shot.
“I didn’t really want to shoot it at first. I wanted to pass,” Julia said. “But then I didn’t know if anyone was behind me, so I just took the shot.”
Coach Mario said he was already preparing himself for penalty kicks when the play unfolded.
“I was already thinking about penalties,” he said. “Then the magic came out. She won the ball under high pressure, made a smart decision, saw the opportunity and went for it.”
When the final whistle blew, the celebration was immediate. The girls embraced each other, cried, laughed, and tried to take in the weight of what they had just done.
“We were all so happy,” one player said. “Some of us were happy crying before we celebratory tackled each other into the ground.”
Key Biscayne Soccer Club, founded in the 1970s and based at the Village Green, has long been a symbol of island life. Generations of children have grown up in the club’s recreational and competitive programs, learning the game on the same fields where neighbors, classmates, siblings, and parents gather week after week.
The club has produced strong teams across generations, with boys teams often leading the competitive conversation. But this championship marks a turning point. The U13 Elite Girls did more than bring home a trophy. They made history of their own, and gave every girl coming up through the club a new standard to chase.
“We got punched in the face, but they kept fighting,” Coach Mario said. “In the last few minutes, they changed everything. To be the first team to win this title for the girls program is beautiful. I am super proud of them.”
“Never give up,” one player said. “Even if you’re losing, you might end up winning.”
It is the kind of lesson that sounds simple until a team lives it in real time, down a goal in the second half of a state championship, with history waiting on the other side of two minutes.
Coach Mario hopes younger players understand what it took.
“To compete at that level, everything takes commitment,” he said. “Hard work, discipline, character, passion, confidence — a little bit of everything. Those games come down to little details and strong resilience.”
The club’s announcement after the championship said it simply: “History Made. Legends Forever.”
For Key Biscayne, the moment belongs not only to the players who lifted the trophy, but to the community that helped raise them. Their coaches. Their parents. Their teammates. The younger girls watching from the sideline. The families who understand that on a small island, a team’s success rarely feels like it belongs to one team alone.
On a field in Auburndale, a group of girls from Key Biscayne became state champions. And now, every girl who comes after them knows it can be done.
For more information on Key Biscayne Soccer Club programs and registration, visit keybiscaynesoccerclub.com.
