Doral, Gulliver, Downtown Doral coaches are Dade Boys Soccer Coaches of the Year

The two most successful programs in Miami-Dade County stayed at the top in 2024.

And a young contender made tremendous strides in only its third season.

The coaches who have guided them through these eras of dominance are once again the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Boys’ Soccer Coaches of the Year.

Doral Academy’s Pamela McDonald is the Herald’s Miami-Dade County Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 7A-5A and Gulliver Prep’s Scott Davidson and Downtown Doral’s Jonathan Rosas are the Herald’s Miami-Dade County Boys’ Soccer Co-Coaches of the Year for Classes 4A-2A.

Gulliver put together one of the most dominant seasons in recent memory in South Florida, going undefeated and surrendering just seven goals all season on the way to a second straight Class 4A champion. The Raiders now have nine state titles, tied for the most in Florida High School Athletic Association history.

Davidson tested his team early in the season by traveling out to California to play some high-level, out-of-state competition and the Raiders were never seriously tested again throughout the year, outscoring opponents 57-7 throughout the season and 10-1 in the FHSAA playoffs.

In fact, only one team played Gulliver this season and did not come away with a loss.

Rosas’ third-year Downtown Doral program played Gulliver to a scoreless draw late in the regular season. But that was just one highlight for the Dolphins, who went 18-5-1 and advanced to its first state final in Class 3A before falling 4-2 against Tampa Prep.

Downtown Doral’s run through the playoffs came as a No. 5 seed in its region and winning three road games including a win over last year’s state runner-up NSU University School.

Although Doral fell short of winning a third state championship in four years, McDonald still led the Firebirds to a fourth straight final four and Doral got there by pulling off a miracle comeback in the final minutes of the Region 4-7A championship.

The resilience to score a game-tying goal in overtime then pull out an extra-time victory could only be cultivated through years of playing in high-stakes, high-pressure playoff games like the Firebirds have done.