University School, American Heritage boys soccer advance to state finals; STA, Doral fall

It was quite a 24 hours for Rafael Guerra.

The senior striker for the NSU University School boys’ soccer team celebrated his birthday on Friday and got quite the surprise when his mother flew in from her native Brazil to not only be with her son on his 18th birthday, but watch him play for the first time in person.

What a treat Guerra gave mom.

Guerra, the leading scorer in Broward County this season, scored the proverbial “hat trick” with three goals and added an assist to lead the Sharks to a 5-0 victory over Jacksonville Bolles in a Class 3A state semifinal on Saturday night at AutoNation Field on the school’s campus.

The win advances University into next week’s Class 3A state championship game where the Sharks (19-1-1) will take on Winter Park Trinity Prep on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

The Sharks won the program’s only state title three years ago in 2020 on that very same field and, with four players on the current roster who were on that team, will be looking to do it again.

“What an amazing feeling, it was like a dream out there tonight,” said Guerra, who brought his season total to 35 goals. “It was such a big game, the last home game of my life, last time I was going to play on this field and to do it in front of my mom, it was such an incredible experience. I had no idea she was coming for my birthday and the game because it’s the first time she ever got to see me play. I was so pumped up tonight to play well in front of her.”

The final score was a little deceiving as Bolles (12-9-2), which was looking for its first state title game since 2013, hung in there with University for the first 63 minutes of the game.

A penalty kick conversion by Guerra 10:17 before halftime after he was fouled in the box by Bolles’ Matthew Berry had been the game’s only score up to that point as the Sharks clung to a 1-0 lead.

And then came the University explosion.

Evan Herman scored the team’s second goal off an assist from Guerra with 26:14 left to make it 2-0 to give the Sharks a little insurance breathing room. But the game then quickly turned into a rout when they scored three goals in less than four minutes.

It started with Guerra’s second goal off an assist from Herman with 15:18 left followed by Herman’s second goal less than a minute later off an assist from Liam Pierce. Two minutes after that, it was time for Guerra’s curtain call as he scored his third goal, unassisted to complete his big night.

Even when University coach Thiago Oliveira pulled him from the game after getting the big lead, Guerra wanted none of it.

“He pleaded with me that with his mother in the stands, he wanted to finish the game,” Oliveira said. “How can you say no to a kid who has done what he’s done for us this season and was doing for us on this night so I put him back in. He’s a special kid and really came through for us tonight.”

Herman, a senior and one of those four players that was part of the 2020 championship team as a freshman, finished his big night with two goals and two assists.

“I didn’t have the best game for myself tonight because I wasn’t connecting as well as I wanted to but still got the two goals to help the team out and we’re just excited to be going to the state final,” Herman said. “It was a real blessing to win the state title my freshman year so to start my career and finish my career with state titles would be awesome.”

Said Oliveira: “This team in not the team from 2020. That team was dominant, this team, these kids – they’re just a bunch of blue collar guys that want to work for one common goal. I think we can do it, we have one more game to go, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work and determination.”

▪ Class 5A state semifinal - American Heritage 2, Pensacola Washington 1: After winning back-to-back state titles in 2018-19, the Patriots are back in the state title game again as they built a 2-0 second half lead and then hung on for the win at Heritage’s Field.

Heritage (19-1-2) will take on Naples, which upset Tampa Jesuit in the other semifinal, in the 5A state championship game at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.

Nicolas Weyenberg’s full volley strike from an Adan Leon assist in the game’s 15th minute staked the Patriots to a 1-0 lead which they hung on to until midway through the second half.

That’s when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards outside of the goal and Rodrigo Keiserman-Blumenthal bent his shot into the far corner for a 2-0 lead.

Washington, which stunned the state’s top-ranked team Panama City Beach Arnold in the regional semifinals and was making its first-ever appearance in the state final four, scored with nine minutes left to cut the Heritage lead in half. But solid defense down the closing stretch helped preserve the win.

“Tonight we never really found our rhythm but Washington certainly had something to do with that,” Heritage coach Todd Goodman said. “The mark of a good team is the ability to produce a good result when you’re not playing particularly well. Our finish line is now in sight. We’re prepared to put our best food forward next week to win a state championship.”

▪ Class 6A state semifinal - Viera 2, St. Thomas Aquinas 1: It was an awfully painful night for the Raiders as they were a mere three minutes away from advancing to their first state final in 12 years when it all came apart.

Viera erased a 1-0 St. Thomas lead by scoring a goal with three minutes left to tie the game and a go-ahead goal with 45 seconds left to win it.

“That’s about as tough as it gets,” Aquinas coach John Walsh said. “We played some solid soccer against a good team on their field and it looked like we were going to get it done. That’s soccer.”

The Raiders scored their only goal three minutes before halftime when they were awarded a penalty kick and Gianluca Ripamonti converted.

Then came the turning point when a St. Thomas defender was blue-carded and thus ejected with 10 minutes left for taking down a Viera player in a one-on-one scoring situation.

Playing a player short, the Raiders could not stave off the Viera offensive onslaught giving up the two decisive goals.

▪ Class 7A state semifinal - Lithia Newsome 2, Doral Academy 1: The Firebirds (12-4-4) saw their reign as two-time defending state champions end on the road on Saturday night.

This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 11:45 PM.