Cypress Bay and Doral Academy boys advance to regional finals in soccer
After getting its streak of nine consecutive regional final berths snapped last year, the Cypress Bay boys’ soccer team is back in familiar territory — the regional final.
Nicholas Diaz scored the game-winning goal four minutes into the first overtime period as the Lightning edged Coral Gables 2-1 in a Region 4-7A semifinal at Gables High School.
Gables, which was looking for its first regional final berth since it went to the state final four in 1981, spent the remaining 16 minutes of OT desperately trying to press the action. But the Lightning defense and goalie Santino Lupica-Tondo were equal to the task and managed to preserve the win.
Cypress Bay, which won five state titles during that 2010-2018 regional final run, will host Coral Reef in the Region 4-7A final next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“Having to go to overtime was tough, but we just had to re-gather ourselves and find a way to get it done,” said Diaz, who beat three Gables defenders down the left side, got the corner turned and fired a shot past Cavaliers keeper Diego Acosta for the eventual game-winner. “Once I got past that third defender and got the corner turned, I knew I had it.”
When Diaz scored on a perfect crossing pass from Sebastian Soriano with just 1:36 left in regulation, it appeared Cypress Bay had it won then. But Gables turned in 60 seconds of furious play and managed to tie the score with just 28 seconds left when Kevin Espinoza centered a perfect pass in front of the net that Manuel Nunez knocked home.
“Today was tough,” Lightning coach Colin Ilgner said. “We had to play on a really sloppy field in the rain and made it difficult for us to connect on our passes. When we lost the lead in the final 30 seconds, I just told the kids to keep fighting. That’s easier said then done because psychologically that’s tough to do, but our kids are mentally tough and showed that out there today.”
DORAL ACADEMY CRUISES PAST MIAMI BEACH
After going at it in two down-to-the wire contests during the season, including a penalty kick shootout in the district title game two weeks ago, district rivals Doral Academy and Miami Beach were expected to put on a similar show in their Region 4-6A semifinal contest on Saturday night.
But Doral (20-0-0) had much different plans as the Firebirds aren’t undefeated, the No. 1 ranked team in the state and No. 3 in the nation (Max Preps) for no reason.
Playing in front of their home crowd, the Firebirds, after a scoreless first half, turned on the jets and scored four unasnwered goals in the second to cruise to an easy 4-0 win.
“I’m trying not to think too far ahead, but I think I really do have a special group of kids here,” said Doral coach Pam McDonald when asked about the chances her team, after coming up short in the state title game three years ago, could finish it off this time and win it all. “Anything can happen in soccer, so you have to stay focused on nothing more than who is up next. But for sure I was pleased with how they all came out tonight and really played well.”
Up next for McDonald and her team will be South Broward, which knocked off St. Thomas Aquinas 2-0 in a Region 4-6A final, next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Doral.
Doral got the second-half scoring flurry started in the first minute when Diego Avalos rocketed a point blank shot at Beach keeper Sebastian Viera. Viera blocked the shot but could not hang on to the ball, which then bounced around in front of the net as a host of players tried to get to it.
Eventually Avalos got a foot on it and knocked it in. Eight minutes later Manuel Calvo crossed a perfect centering pass that Traini Massimo knocked home to make it 2-0. After a Beach foul in the box gave Doral a penalty kick, Gabriel Cartagena converted to make it 3-0 with 12 minutes left.
“That first goal was big because once we start scoring, we just keep on scoring,” Avalos said. “This is a really special team having a really special season, and we just want to keep this thing going.”
▪ Region 4-3A semifinal — Palmer Trinity 1, Miami Country Day 0: Carmen Gonzalez Del Valle had the game-winning goal while goalie Natalia Rey recorded the shutout in front of the net.
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 9:57 PM.