Goalkeeper’s brilliance propels Highlands Christian boys soccer to first state semifinal

The Pompano Beach Highlands Christian boys soccer team had never advanced to the state semifinals in school history.

That was until Wednesday.

Led by a lone goal from senior midfielder Alexis Pena in the 49 th minute, the Knights defeated North Miami Beach SLAM Academy 1-0 in a Class 1A regional final.

Highlands (16-6-2), which has won 12 consecutive games, advances to the state semifinals at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand on Feb. 26 where it will play either Stuart Pine or St. Augustine St. Joseph Academy at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. The championship is set for Mar. 1 at 10 a.m.

Though the goal was a key to the outcome of the victory, there was a bigger storyline.

Sophomore goalkeeper Rony Exavier had a monster of a game with eight saves of which all would have been goals without his stellar performance between the pipes.

As the Wolves (10-7-0) pressed for equalizer, Exavier continued to deny all chances in spectacular fashion. That also included a pair of diving stops in front of the goal mouth early in the second half prior to the Knights goal.

“In my head I said I got to this moment a lot,” Exavier said. “All the shots that came to me tonight I just did what had to do. You can’t win a game as a keeper, but the only thing you can do is save it.”

Said Highlands coach Davidson Loriston: “Rony was amazing. For the last 20 minutes of the game our keeper was at his best. He was just incredible.”

Pena’s goal proved timely for the Knights as their defense was consistently being challenged by the Wolves.

“The goal was very important,” said Pena. “It was a special time and we had to get it done. We worked to hard to get here and I knew I had to score for my team.”

The game was the third meeting of this season with both teams winning once. Highlands lost the first 3-0 on Dec. 10 and won 3-1 for the district championship.

“We played against their keeper before and he is very good,” SLAM coach Carlos Garcia said. “He can make the difference in the game. We had our chances. Our guys fought to the end and that’s all you can want.”

▪ Region 4-2A final - Florida Christian 3, Scheck Hillel 0: Alexis Bennetot and Cristian Garcia each had a goal and an assist, and Esteban Castano also scored to lead the Patriots (11-8-3) to the impressive road victory. Florida Christian advances to the state semifinals for only the second time in school history and first since 2005.

The Patriots will take on either Melbourne Holy Trinity or Tampa Prep on Feb. 27 at either 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. in a Class 2A state semifinal at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.