Doral stuns Cypress Bay with last-minute equalizer, OT win for 4th straight region title

The end of a special run stared at Doral Academy in the final minutes of regulation in the Region 4-7A championship Wednesday and hung in the air with one more desperate long passing attempt.

Doral spent the entire second half trying to scratch out a game-tying goal and suddenly Yitzhak Calatrava saw it developing on one of the last touches of regulation. A long pass took an extra bounce and just barely hopped over the outstretched arms of Cypress Bay’s goaltender. Suddenly, Calatrava stood against an empty net to tap in a last-minute equalizer.

“It was a really lucky goal,” the senior said, “but thankfully it happened.”

Eight minutes into extra time, Calatrava scored again and the Firebirds completed a stunning come-from-behind victory in Doral. The Firebirds rallied to beat the Lightning, 3-1, at home and are headed back to the final four for the fourth straight season. Doral will next face Boca Raton in a 7A state semifinal on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

The Firebirds, who lost in the Class 7A semifinals last year, are two wins away from a third state title in four years.

“Cypress Bay were a much better team in the first half and I told my guys that,” Doral coach Pam McDonald said. “I said, ‘Whatever’s going to win this game is going to come from hard fight and determination.’”

The Firebirds (15-2-2) did almost nothing for the entire first half, fell behind 1-0 right before halftime, and then took nearly the entire second to finally score and get the game to extra time.

The challenge wasn’t any sort of surprise to Doral. Cypress Bay’s five state championships are tied for the fourth most among South Florida programs and an uncharacteristic first-round exit last year helped inspire the Lightning (16-4) to get back to the region championship this season.

For more than 40 minutes, Cypress Bay dominated, holding Doral without a shot on goal in the first half and finally going up 1-0 in the 40th minute on a perfectly executed set piece as Lightning senior Michele Di Miele, from 45 yards away, lofted a long cross into the box for Cypress Bay senior Rafael Piazzi, who headed home the go-ahead goal.

The first-half score nearly held up for the Lightning. The Firebirds didn’t put their first shot on goal until the 45th minute and didn’t start to consistently threaten until the final 20 minutes or so.

They were nearly too late. They were actually right on time.

“At first, we went in and felt like scared,” Calatrava said. “In the second half, we lost that and did better.”

As lucky as his game-tying goal might have been, Calatrava’s game-winner was as good a goal as he has scored this season. He won a fight for a ball near the top of the box and wound up with a shot from over on the left wing, and put it in the perfect spot, right between the bottom of the crossbar and the farthest reaches of Cypress Bay senior Marcus Stoutenburg’s wingspan. Doral took the lead for good in the 88th minute and then sealed the win when they scored against an empty net, with Stoutenburg playing up in the opposite box on a corner kick, in the 100th.

A few minutes later, the Firebirds hopped around with yet another region championship trophy.

These trips to the final four are becoming routine for Doral. On the field, the Firebirds act like it.

“This,” McDonald said, “proves exactly what we speak about every single day.”