Led by youth, MAST water polo teams sweep GMAC championships as they gear up for playoffs
There’s a youth movement these days on the MAST Academy water polo teams.
And it has the Makos dreaming about winning championships.
MAST’s boys and girls made one of those goals a reality on Wednesday when each squad took home a GMAC championship at their home pool in Virginia Key.
The Makos’ girls repeated as champion following a 20-10 win over Miami Beach. Meanwhile, the boys survived a tough battle against a much improved Columbus team, prevailing 15-14.
MAST’s boys are among a pack of top contenders for this year’s state championship, which will be contested on April 19-20 at Belen Jesuit.
The girls are also among South Florida’s best and looking to upend contenders such as Seminole and Gulliver.
BOYS WIN THRILLER
MAST had already had a battle down to the wire with Columbus that it won earlier this season. In the GMAC final, the Makos battled back to tie the game seven times before taking their only lead with 1:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, when freshman Johan Miguel scored the decisive goal.
Miguel then made a huge defensive play in the closing seconds when he forced a turnover while defending Columbus senior Sebastian Hidalgo.
“I just really wanted to win this one since we hadn’t won GMAC in forever. I just had confidence that I was making shots all game and I took the shot and made it,” Miguel said. “We didn’t need to drop so I took on No. 4 one on one and I had the confidence I could take him down.”
On the offensive end, MAST was led by its youngest player, eighth grader Eduardo Fogel, who scored a game-high seven goals to keep the Makos close throughout what was a physical contest.
“We’re growing and we still have a lot of room to improve,” Fogel said. “We just need to keep working and developing.”
MAST coach Yuniel Usin’s confidence that his team would pull through never wavered even when the Explorers took the largest lead of the game by either side when they led 12-8 midway through the third quarter.
“After years of coaching you develop a field and you know when your team is about to take over,” Usin said. “I had a good feeling, especially when the team kept coming back that when it really came down to it, we were going to be able to take it.”
Fogel and Ayron Castro each scored twice and Aleczander Bernstein had a goal during a 5-1 surge that closed out the quarter, and tied the game at 13. “A lot of our games have been intense like that,” Bernstein said. “It’s just about giving the most effort the later it gets in the game. It’s having confidence in your teammates too.”
GIRLS SURVIVE COMEBACK
Things got tense in a different way for MAST’s girls team in their final.
After taking an 11-1 lead in the first half and seemingly headed toward a mercy rule victory, Miami Beach came back with seven consecutive goals to cut the deficit to 11-8 late in the third quarter.
After trading goals to end the period, MAST scored four in a row to open the fourth and put the game away.
“It was good for our starters to have a little pressure going into the fourth quarter considering we have to place some of the top teams in the state coming up,” MAST girls coach and athletic director Carlos Couzo said. “I didn’t want that to happen, but it was good for us and credit to Miami Beach. They did a good job.”
Eighth grader Leonna Castro led the way with six goals as she and senior Daniela Yuste provided both offense and defense to help the Makos prevail to help the makos prevail.
‘We have a lot of seniors, but most of our best players are eighth and ninth graders,” Couzo said. “We kind of have a youth movement going on both the boys and girls teams here with a lot of good players coming up.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 2:49 PM.
