The Reagan boys’ soccer team stayed perfect with their Region 4-7A quarterfinal win

In the midst of a magical season, the best in program history, the Reagan High School boys’ soccer team got another learning lesson Wednesday afternoon.

Throw out records and seeding numbers because they mean very little. Despite being the No. 1 seed, sporting a perfect 18-0-0 record and hosting a No. 8 seed with a losing record in Varela, the Bison found themselves in a fierce fight.

But in the end, Reagan had enough offense and played solid enough defense to grind out a 3-1 victory against the Vipers in a Region 4-7A quarterfinal contest at Doral Legacy Park.

The Bison will look to punch their first ever ticket to a regional final when they host Coral Reef in a regional semifinal Saturday at Legacy Park at a time to be determined. Reef edged Columbus 1-0 in the opposite quarterfinal. Varela, which caught a hot set of dice in the postseason a year ago, making it all the way to the state final, finished 7-9-2.

“I’ve been preaching to the kids that now we take records and seeding numbers and toss them right out the window,” said Reagan coach Andres Vidales. “We’ve had an outstanding season so far but from here on out, every team is going to compete and we certainly recognized that Varela is a very good team. They didn’t play in the state final last year by accident and we knew they would come out and compete. We’re glad to get through today but now it’s going to do is get tougher the deeper we go.”

Just when it appeared both teams would head into the halftime break in a scoreless tie, Reagan stunned the Vipers with two quick goals inside of the last five minutes.

First when Daniel Lazardi found a small opening in the middle after taking a centering pass from Daniel Amado and rocketed it into the top right corner of the net.

Just two minutes later, Lazardi was in on his team’s second goal when it was he who centered a perfect pass to Daniel Jordan who beat keeper Andres Mejia to the ball to make it 2-0.

But Varela battled back when, following a foul just outside the box, Christian Viera knifed a free kick into the bottom right hand corner of the net to slice the Bison lead in half with eight minutes left. Reagan went into full defense mode at that point to protect its one goal lead and scored an insurance goal with just over two minutes left when Mateo Amado was awarded a penalty kick and knocked it in.

“They were a tough team,” said Lazardi. “The one thing coach preached to us is that it’s a new season and anyone can beat anyone at this point so records and what you did during the season don’t matter. Everybody is 0-0. We’re glad to get through this one today and looking forward to the next challenge.”

▪ REGION 4-3A QUARTERFINAL — Miami Country Day 2, Palmer Trinity 1: Even though they were a high seed and playing on their home field, the task was a big one on Wednesday night for the MCD boys’ soccer team. In front of them were the two-time defending state champion Falcons.

But first half goals by Josef Frenkel and Enzo Lagrassa-Gillet proved to be enough as the Spartans (14-8-1) held off a second half rally by Palmer. Desperate to score, the Falcons (8-5-3) pressured the MCD a good portion of the second half. When Eduardo Franceschi finally scored with 19 minutes left, the deficit had been sliced in half.

The Falcons came close to tying it with seven minutes left but a Pablo Jimenez sharp angle direct kick bounced off the crossbar.

“They’re two-time defending state champions for a reason because they really came at us hard in the second half,” said MCD head coach Jeff Watson. “Our kids did a good job of hanging in there, clearing balls out and finding a way to come out on top.”

Miami Country Day, the No. 3 seed, will travel to play No. 2 LaSalle Saturday at 7 p.m. LaSalle defeated Westminster Christian 4-1.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

▪ Region 4-3A quartefinal: Ransom Everglades 1, Coral Shores 0 (OT, PKs, 3-0): RE hit all three of its penalty kicks (Maya Rego, Lindsay Gould and Mather Davidson) while GK Preston Edmunds blocked all three of Coral Shores PKs.

▪ Region 4-5A quarterfinal: Archbishop McCarthy 8, Sebring 0: Lili Katz, Madison Burkhard, Adriana Duque, Riley Schemel, Aubrey Havens, Cassie Lawson, Julia Moore and Jordyn Pitter each had one goal. Kiki Rhee Osorio 2 assists, Sofia Enriquez 1, Natalia Perez and Nadia Colon one assist each. AM: 18-1-2. Will host Pines Charter in regional semifinal Friday at 7 p.m.

▪ Region 4-3A quarterfinal: Palmer Trinity 2, University School 0: Carmen Gonzalez Del Valle and Daniela Carbajales-Vieta one goal each. GK Natalia Rey shutout.

▪ Region 4-6A quarterfinal: St. Thomas Aquinas 5, South Broward 0: Rachel Pellissery and Shay Miedema 2 goals each, Isabella Kleva 1 goal. Isabella Estrada and Mia Borrone one assist each.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

▪ Palmer Trinity 58, Somerset Silver Palms 38: PT – James 15, Young 10, A. Waldman 8, Friedland 6, McCray 5, Robertson 5, Rodz 4, Thomas 3. SSP: Fajardo III 18, Ehlen 5, Fajardo 4, Morrel 3, Fernandez 3. Half: PT 31-18. 3-pointers: Fajardo III 5, Ehlen, Morrel, Patron, Fajardo, Friedland, Robertson, James. Rebounds: James 13, A. Waldman 10, Young 4. Steals: Friedland 2, Rodz, Thomas. Assists: A. Waldman 5, McCray 3, Young 3, Friedland 2, Robertson 2. PT: 15-7

SOFTBALL

▪ Colonial Christian 17, South Dade 4: P Morgan Wells 7 Ks, 1B, 2 SB, RBI. Juliette DelValle 1B, 2B, 1SB, 3 RBIs, Peyton Housh 1B, 2B, SB, 2RBIs. CCS: 1-0

PRESEASON BASEBALL

▪ Southwest 2, South Dade 0: Frank Elissalt, Brandon Andrade and Alex Pereira combined to strike out 15 batters. Matt Fernandez doubled and scored the winning run.

GIRLS’ TENNIS

▪ Gulliver Prep. d. North Broward Prep. 7-0: #1 Sofia Restrepo (8-1), #2 Valentina Rossi (6-1 retired), #3 Mia Suarez (8-0), #4 Tori Hagenlocker (8-0) and #5 Katie Lewis (8-2) all individual winners.