Gulliver leaves no doubt as it prepares to chase its eighth boys’ soccer state title
Franco Garcia-Morillo was just a freshman when he experienced what it was like to win a state championship.
He’s spent the rest of his high school career trying to feel that again.
Garcia-Morillo, now a senior, made sure he and his teammates on the Gulliver Prep boys’ soccer team would earn that opportunity, scoring twice to lead the Raiders to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Yulee in a Class 4A state semifinal on Saturday night at Belen Jesuit’s De La Cruz Stadium.
Gulliver (15-4-2) will take on Orlando Bishop Moore in the 4A state championship match on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.
“We all kind of felt it in warmups,” Garcia-Morillo said. “We were focused and we kind of felt like we were going to give it our all in those first 15 minutes and show our superiority. Luckily, we had a few chances and were able to score on them and set the tone.”
Garcia-Morillo is one of five players who were on that 2020 state championship team for Gulliver. That core group also experienced the disappointment of defeat when they could not repeat in 2021 and saw their playoff run abruptly ended in the regional semifinals last season.
But as they showed on Saturday, possessing the ball for most of the match and putting 13 shots on goal while allowing only one, Gulliver appears to have the balance and skill in its lineup to bring home what would be its eighth state title all-time. The Raiders’ total is the most for any Miami-Dade County program.
Gulliver scored twice within the first six minutes of the match and added a third only 12 minutes in.
Rodrigo Navarro got things started by firing home a shot off a perfect cross from Joaquin Beker Flah. Garcia-Morillo followed with his two goals within the next nine minutes.
“We wanted to control the tempo and the pace,” Gulliver coach Scott Davidson said. “We were able to get on them pretty quickly. It hasn’t always worked out that way this season, but in this case it made it a little more comfortable for us.”
Garcia-Morillo really wanted the hat trick in the second half. But twice the timing was just off on his attempts at the opposing goal as one shot rolled just wide and another went over.
Tomas Sciarra and Max Henein would each score in the second half as Gulliver was never really challenged.
“I wanted the hat trick, but more than anything I wanted to get us to the finals,” Garcia-Morillo said. “We really want that ring…I see a very similar team to my freshman year. We’re a very united team.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 10:36 PM.
