Lightning strikes twice: Cypress Bay and Krop each advance to regional boys soccer finals

Everybody loves pretty goals and lots of scoring.

But a lot of times, it’s hard-nosed lockdown defense that will get you through a season and the playoffs.

Once again, that was the case for the Cypress Bay boys soccer team on Saturday afternoon.

After 78 minutes of scoreless soccer, Cypress Bay’s Giancarlo Dostilio popped a penalty kick into the bottom right corner of the net, which would prove to be the difference in the top-seeded Lightning’s 1-0 win over No. 5-seed Columbus in a Region 4-7A semifinal at Cypress Bay High.

Cypress Bay (19-1), ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 7A, No. 7 in the state regardless of classification, and No. 11 in the nation (Max Preps), moves on to the regional finals and will host Dr. Krop on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Krop, the No. 3 seed in Region 4, edged No. 7 Miami Beach 1-0 (4-3 PKs) in the opposite semifinal.

The shutout win was nothing new for this Lightning team.

It marked the team’s 11th shutout in the last 12 games. Since Dec. 13, Cypress Bay has given up just one goal, which came against Western in a 3-1 district semifinal final win.

“We’re really proud of the defense we’ve been playing and yeah, we love it when we pitch the shutout each game,” Cypress Bay junior sweeper Michael Malecki said. “We take a lot of pride in that and it sure came in handy today because we were only able to manage that one goal. We work real well together, shift together and do what we need to do. We kind of feel like we’re a wall out there. And then we’ve that guy back there.”

Malecki pointed to the team’s starting goalkeeper, senior Andres Dimiele who has been in front of the net for all of those shutouts. Remarkably, he wasn’t even on the team’s roster at the start of the season but then head coach Colin Ilgner was forced to bring him up and start him when the team’s starting keeper, Matias Castaneda, suffered a season-ending knee injury just five games into the season.

“It takes all of us out there,” Dimiele said. “A goalkeeper is only as good as the defense he has in front of him and all those guys just really do a great job of clearing balls and making things that much easier for me.”

Very true. Dimiele never had to do a whole lot most of the game as the Explorers (12-5-4) struggled to create any quality scoring chances against the tough Cypress Bay back line. Their best chance came with 21 minutes left in regulation when Columbus forward David Thomas came open down the left hand side and Dimiele rushed out of the net to try and meet him. Thomas managed to get the shot off but Dimiele managed to reach out with his left arm and bring the ball in.

Dostilio, the team’s leading scorer with 15 goals, was one of many frustrated Lightning offensive players all afternoon as they had more than their share of quality scoring chances but could not find the back of the net.

Just when it looked like the game was headed to overtime, the whistle blew when Columbus’ Lucas Levine collided with Mateo Stoka just inside the penalty box with 1:30 left in regulation.

Despite the angry protests from the Columbus bench along with Levine who appeared stunned by the call, the play stood and Dostilio was awarded the penalty kick that he put past diving Columbus goalkeeper Alejandro Garcia for the game winner.

“I knew when they blew the whistle that it was going to be a PK and that I was going to take it,” Dostilio said. “I never look at the keeper. I just always pick a spot and go and that’s what I did. Give it up for our defense as they are pretty much carrying us right now. We’re not really putting big numbers up on offense and we struggled again today. We had some chances but couldn’t finish it off, especially in the first half and that was frustrating.”

Now eight years deep since taking over the program, Ilgner is seeking his third state title at the helm after winning the fourth and fifth state titles for the program in 2015 and 2017.

“We pride ourselves on great defense and I’m certainly proud of the effort out there today because goals were tough to come by,” Ilgner said. “Credit Columbus – they’re a great team that gave us everything we could handle today. They disrupted us all game, had a few chances and this could’ve gone either way. Fortunately we got a penalty kick, sunk it and are moving on. An ugly win is better than a pretty loss, especially now when losing means your season is over.”

KROP WINS ON PENALTY KICKS

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, it all came down to penalty kicks and goalkeepers for Miami Beach and Dr. Krop.

And fortunately for Krop, it’s two keepers, Luis Hipten and Yoav Berliavsky came through with one more big play than Beach goalkeepers Ethan Zaldivar and Eduardo Grandi.

Both teams alternated keepers during the penalty kick rounds and Hipten and Berliavsky each came up with a diving save which gave the Lighting the 4-3 penalty kick victory at Orange Bowl Ives Estates Park. The seventh-seeded Hi-Tides (15-4-3) advanced to Saturday’s match after upsetting No. 2 seed Coconut Creek Monarch in penalty kicks.

Krop (12-3) advances to only its second-ever regional final.

With the PK score tied 3-3, Krop senior forward Noah Zarlenga stepped up and drilled the game-winning shot past a diving Zaldivar as Lightning players stormed the field to mob Zarlenga.

“Coach always tells me, never ever look at the keeper before your kick,” Zarlenga said. “Just keep your head down and stay focused on where you want to kick the ball. Don’t ever let the keeper see your face because he might see that you are nervous or up tight. What a great win for us today and we’re excited to be moving on.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 11:02 PM.