Columbus pulls stunner over Cypress Bay to advance to state boys’ soccer semis

In soccer, it’s not always when the clock on the scoreboard hits all zeroes.

Sometimes it’s when the official in the center of the field blows his whistle.

The Cypress Bay boys soccer team found that out the hard way on Tuesday night while the Columbus Explorers were the beneficiary.

The end result was a dramatic 3-1 penalty kick/shootout victory for Columbus, after the teams had battled to a 3-3 tie after 100 minutes of soccer, in a Region 4-7A final at Cypress Bay High School.

Trailing 3-2 and the clock having already reached triple zeroes in the second OT, Cypress Bay players and coaches were ready to run out to the field and celebrate another berth in the state final four.

But there was no whistle. Only the official looking at his watch.

They played on for another 60 to 90 seconds and Columbus took maximum advantage.

Jayden Glasper got a deep throw-in from down near the Lighting goal that Aiden Rosenberg flicked to Benjamin Ochoa who flicked it to Sebastian Tamargo who then one touched it into the net tying the game at 3-3. Less than 10 seconds later, the whistle blew sending the game to penalty kicks.

That’s where Columbus goalkeeper Nick Siman stepped up to the plate in his big moment and stoned three different Lightning shots. Jorge Gonzalez-Tello and Tamargo hit their two shots before Ezequiel Bartra hit the game clincher.

“Just a surreal and unbelievable moment,” Columbus coach Kameron Clark, a former Columbus standout soccer player himself from the class of 2010. “We saw the official looking at his watch and were just screaming at our players to hurry and get the ball in play. Once we got it to PKs, we were confident because we made a late-season switch at goalkeeper and Nick has been absolutely magnificent. He really stepped up big in the biggest moment for us.”

Columbus (16-4-5) advances to the state final four for only the second time in program history, and will be the No. 2 seed when they square off against No. 3 Windemere in a 7A state semifinal at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand on Tuesday at 4 p.m. No. 1 Palm Harbor University will take on No. 4 Sanford Seminole in the other semifinal.

The Explorers can only hope that they can catch the same kind of magic they did in their only other trip to state in 2014. That’s when they traveled to Cypress Bay for the regional final and stunned then three-time reigning state champions and No. 1 team in the nation before going on to knock off Oviedo in the semifinals and Boca Raton for the state title.

Columbus had to also overcome the shock of an early deficit as Cypress Bay’s Rodrigo Castrilla scored just three minutes into the game to stake the Lightning to an early 1-0 lead.

The Explorers did not panic, they responded. A goal by Luca Driussi just after the first half water break tied the game and Glasper followed that up with a goal eight minutes before halftime to give them a 2-1 lead at the break.

Lorenzo Abbiati knocked one home for Cypress Bay early in the second half and the score would remain 2-2 for the remainder of regulation.

The Explorers then had another obstacle to overcome when they actually gave up an own-goal four minutes into the first OT when one of their backs, trying to clear a deep pass in front of his own net, instead inadvertently headed it toward the goal and over Siman’s head.

“Something like that is a really tough moment and it took a great deal of heart and character by our kids to overcome that and find a way to come out on top,” Clark said. “We can’t be more excited about the opportunity in front of us and are hoping to bring home the big prize.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 2:49 PM.