South Broward boys’ soccer punches ticket to state final four with win over Miami Beach

For 90-plus minutes of soccer, they wallowed in frustration.

But in the end, perseverance, grit and determination eventually paid off for the Hollywood South Broward boys soccer team.

Despite dominating most of the game, creating numerous scoring chances and bouncing a pair of shots off the left post, the Bulldogs, with a berth in the state final four on the line and eight minutes away from going to penalty kicks, still found themselves locked in a scoreless battle with Miami Beach in a Region 4-6A final at South Broward High School.

That’s when senior midfielder Dominik Tianick broke free down the right hand side and, thanks to a perfect crossing pass from fellow senior midfielder Joseph Suarez, fired one into the bottom right corner of the net for what was ultimately the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Beach.

South Broward (18-1-3) advances to next week’s state final four at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand where, as the No. 2 seed, the Bulldogs will square off against Valrico Bloomingdale in a 6A state semifinal contest on Feb. 28 at 4 p.m.

South Broward players sprinted towards the middle of the field in mass celebration when the final whistle blew as they punched their ticket to the state final four for the second time in program history, the first coming in 2020.

“We’ve been having trouble finishing all season long so tonight wasn’t something these kids haven’t been dealing with all year,” South Broward coach Lionel Brown said. “It was a matter of just staying with it and keep pounding away at the net before it eventually paid off.”

On Tianich’s game-winner, Brown said they had spotted something in the film room during the week.

“We watched their film together as a group, broke it down and our goal came off of something that I recognized in their (Beach) style of play,” Brown said. “When they attack, they throw numbers back so they’re limited in transition. I told my two outside backs including Dom, once we transition and we win, just go, go, go. So Dom knows we’re always going to overload their wide area, the ball swings in, he’s there – goal.”

Pressing all players forward in an effort to get the equalizer, the Hi-Tides left themselves vulnerable on defense and Suarez was able to break away for a one-on-one and scored a game-sealing goal with less than a minute left.

“I just saw Joseph (Suarez) moving forward in space, saw him look up and knew I had to collapse into the box,” said Tianich of his game-winner. “I’m thinking I have to find a way to finish this and got it in the bottom right corner. Tonight was definitely frustrating but we’ve been struggling with finishing all season so it wasn’t something we weren’t already used to. We’ve managed to battle our way and find ways to win games despite not being able to finish and we found a way again tonight.”

Perhaps the unsung heroes on this night though might’ve been the Bulldog defenders as the back line of Brandon Rabasco, Mario Garcia and Sebastian Ibañez proved to be virtually impenetrable all game. The Hi-Tides (17-6-1), who were looking to get back to their second-ever state final four having also lost an overtime heartbreaker in the state final in 2018, never recorded a single legitimate shot on goal.

“It was just all about staying together and communicating,” Garcia said. “To just try and create a wall and keep them from getting close to the net down low, then just give our offense a chance to make a play. It was frustrating for sure but we were confident that eventually we would punch one in and we did.”

Brown was on the field that day four years ago when they lost an overtime heartbreaker to Niceville in the championship game and will remind his players of the opportunity they now have in front of them.

“I tell them all the time, I know what it feels like to win district and regional championships, make it to the state final but then not win,” Brown said. “It’s a hard thing to do and you don’t always know if you’re going to get back there. Now they have a chance to go up there and make history. We have a very good group, they work hard, very good teammates to each other, so I love when they do things like this and reward themselves because it shows that their hard work had paid off.”