Oxbridge Academy was relatively unknown last season as it made its way through the girls soccer postseason.
Oxbridge Academy will play perennial power Jacksonville-Bolles Academy this afternoon for the Class 2A girls soccer state championship. The ThunderWolves are defending state champions. (Andres Leiva/Palm Beach Post)
The ThunderWolves, then in their fourth year of varsity competition, stormed through the Class 2A bracket in 2017, winning all five of their games on the way to clinching the program’s first-ever state championship.
Oxbridge defeated Montverde Academy 3-2 in the state title game held at DeLand’s Spec Martin Stadium last February, scoring a pair of second-half goals to rally for the win.
One year later, the ThunderWolves are back in northern Florida for their second attempt in as many years to win a state title.
But they’re far from unknown this time around.
“Having won last year, you sort of have the target on your back,” first-year coach Steve Obringer said of Oxbridge (12-1-4), which plays Jacksonville-Bolles at 4 p.m. today in the Class 2A state title game. “It’s the old adage of the hunter being the hunted.
“We’re probably not going to sneak up on anyone like we did last year. That in itself ramps up the difficulty of repeating.”
Bolles, a perennial power in girls soccer, is well aware of that.
The Bulldogs (20-6-2) won back-to-back state championships in 2015 and 2016, and were on their way to a third straight title last year before running into Montverde in the state semifinals.
Bolles is back this year, and Obringer expects a big challenge. The Bulldogs have won their past four postseason games by a combined 28-4, and are coming off a 7-0 rout of Winter Park-Trinity Prep in the state semifinals.
“They’re one of the storied programs in the state in Class 2A,” Obringer said. “They’ve won some championships recently. When you look at the bracket, they’re typically right there.”
Bolles hasn’t been tested in regional or state semifinal play, but Oxbridge has.
The ThunderWolves, who needed penalty kicks to defeat Benjamin in the District 13-2A championship match Jan. 26, have won three of their four postseason games by one goal, with one of those wins coming in overtime.
Yet, Obringer is confident his team has benefitted from playing in tight postseason games.
“When you get this far in the postseason, the level of competition is at its peak,” he said.
“I think that being in those close games, and fortunately coming out on the winning side of those prepares us for the big-game situations and the pressure situations that we’re likely going to encounter in the championship game.”
The key for the ThunderWolves today will be starting strong, Obringer said. The ThunderWolves struggled with that at times during the regular season.
“It’s definitely where our focus lies — coming out and setting the tone early in terms of possession, in terms of physicality and just playing our style of soccer,” Obringer said. “We don’t want to get pulled into playing the other team’s style.”