University School boys’ soccer routs Delray American Heritage to reach state title game

Just how good of a soccer team the University School boys are may have become crystal clear Saturday night.

Just two years removed from a state title and ranked No. 25 in the nation this year having won 12 consecutive games, Delray Beach American Heritage brought a pretty impressive resumé into the Saturday night’s Class 3A state semifinal.

But the Sharks, who haven’t lost a game this year and are ranked No. 6 in the country, brought their own resumé with them and could not have cared less about their opponent’s credentials. University School brushed Heritage out of the way, beating the Stallions 6-0 at Auto Nation Field on the U. School campus.

With that, the Sharks (20-0-2) punched their ticket to the state championship game and will take on Tampa Catholic (23-1-2, No. 11 in the nation) Thursday at 4 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

“I guess we pretty much took the drama out of this one tonight,” said University coach Thiago Oliveira with a wry smile. “The kids tonight were just fantastic. We came out with a game plan and executed it perfectly all night from beginning to end. To beat any team 6-0 in always impressive but to beat a team like Heritage like this? Amazing. Everybody was on from the opening whistle.”

The Sharks began their onslaught just 15 minutes into the game when freshman Ethan Subachan scored from the right side off an assist from Joel Castellanos.

Twelves minutes before halftime, a foul just outside the penalty box gave Sebastian Smith a free kick but from a severe angle on the left side. Smith placed it perfectly put a little hook on the shot that hit the right post and bounced in to make it 2-0.

Heritage kept the deficit at two for awhile in the second half but any thoughts of a comeback were put to rest quickly as the Sharks then turned on the afterburners, scoring four times in the next 12 minutes. Castellanos scored at the 22:03 mark which was followed by another Smith goal 90 seconds later, a Rafael Matiello score at 16:35 and finally Santiago Mizrahi score with 10 minutes left to close things out.

“The first thing we did was make sure we respected the other team coming in to tonight,” said Smith. “Even though we had already played them in the regular season and beaten them 3-0, (Heritage’s last loss back in December) we still felt like they would come in here tonight ready to try and get that one back on us. We understood how to beat them but we knew we just needed to stick by a game plan, come out and play hard for 80 minutes and that’s how we won.”

The last time the University School boys’ soccer team won the state title was in 2011 after beating Lake Highland Prep 1-0 (PK, 9-8).

Gulliver rallies past Bishop Moore

Having make a long trip to Orlando and trailing host Bishop Moore 2-0 at the half in Saturday night’s Class 4A state semifinal, things could not have looked more bleak for the Gulliver Prep boys soccer team.

Enter one Sebastian Paz who, practically by himself, put the Raiders team on his back and carried them to an amazing 4-3 comeback win.

The Raiders will head back up to Central Florida next week as they now find themselves in the 4A state championship game where they will take on Cape Coral Mariner on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

After Jaimie Bedmar-Perez scored to slice the deficit in half early in the second half, Paz scored in the game’s 55th minute to tie it even before Bishop Moore scored just after the second half water break to go back up 3-2 and put the Raiders on life support.

But Paz kept grinding, scoring with 10 minutes left to tie it again before scoring the game-winner with just three minutes left.

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen one single kid put an entire team on his back with so much on the line as there was tonight but that’s exactly what that young man did,” said Gulliver coach Chris Bart-Williams. “I told all the kids at halftime that we just had to keep going hard and if we did, good things would happen. A great job by a determined bunch of kids but to watch Sebastian especially was remarkable.”

South Broward stuns George Jenkins

Gulliver Prep wasn’t the only team that pulled off a great road comeback on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs of South Broward were in Lakeland taking on George Jenkins in a 6A state semifinal and, trailing 1-0 virtually the entire game, were down to their last five minutes.

But when Matthew Randall scored with 3:59 left in regulation, it forced overtime. Then came a Francisco Contreras goal with just 29 seconds left in the second overtime and South Broward, just three days after shocking the No. 1 team in the nation, Doral Academy in a regional final, had itself another historic win, beating George Jenkins 2-1.

“I can’t be more proud of the boys for hanging in there in a hostile environment all night long,” said South Broward coach Lionel Brown. “They showed an amazing resiliency and determination to hang tough all game long and it paid off. What a historic run for this program.”

The Bulldogs now find themselves in the 6A state title game and will have another huge task in front of them as they take on 24-0-2 Niceville, the No. 2 ranked team in the nation on Saturday at 4 p.m. in DeLand.

Pines Charter edges Naples Lely

Host Pembroke Pines Charter punched its ticket to the 5A state title game on Saturday night as the Jaguars, after battling Naples Lely to a 1-1 overtime tie, won it on penalty kicks 7-6. PC will take on Tampa Jesuit for the title on Saturday at 1 p.m.

▪ Cypress Bay lost 2-0 to Boca Raton in the Class 7A state semifinal.

GIRLS’ WATER POLO

▪ Gulliver 15, St. Thomas 3: Allison Keepax 4 goals; Gaby Montalvo 5 goals, 3 steals; Kalei Ganser 6 blocks, 6 assists, 3 steals; Emily Miller 2 goals, 2 assist, 1 steal.

▪ Gulliver 15, Suncoast 7: Gaby Montalvo 6 goals, 2 assists, 4 steals; Emily Miller 3 goals, 3 assists, 2 steals; Kalei Ganser 8 blocks, 2 steals; Giorgia Pascual 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 steals. Gulliver 2-2.

BOY’S WATER POLO

▪ Gulliver 21 Ransom 14: Bruno Rebessi 9 goals, 3 assists, 6 steals; Awwal Kay-Ramos 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 steals; Hayaat Kay-Ramos 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 steals; Bailey Quintero 3 goals, 1 assist, 1 steal.

▪ Championship game — Gulliver 11 Olympia 10: Bruno Rebessi 4 goals, 3 steals; Jeronimo Dacharry 3 goals, 1 assist, 2 steals; Taylor Quintero 1 assist, 6 steals; Awwal Kay-Ramos 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 steals. Gulliver 4-0.

BASEBALL

▪ Riviera Prep 14, Everglades Prep 0: Nick Flowers 2 for 2, double, 4 runs; Chris Pelicanos 1 for 2, 2 RBI; Eric Fernandez 1 for 3, 2 runs, 1 RBI. Luis Angarita pitched 4 Innings for the win. He had 5 Strikeouts.

This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 12:33 AM.