American Heritage boys’ soccer wins PK thriller over Mater Lakes

Sometimes to really truly appreciate a euphoric moment, you had to have experienced the complete opposite first.

For the Plantation American Heritage boys soccer team, that occurred a season ago. Just two seasons removed from winning a state title, they won just three times in 17 games (3-7-7), enduring the program’s first losing season in over 25 years.

So the celebration was extra special on Tuesday night when Heritage goalkeeper Alex Vanhaeren dove to his right and made a spectacular save in the fifth round of penalty kicks to clinch his team’s 4-3 PK victory over Mater Lakes Academy after the teams battled to a 3-3 double overtime tie in a wild Region 4-4A final at Heritage.

Vanhaeren’s teammates eventually got around to hugging and embracing him, but first they all made a beeline sprint for the stands to celebrate with their ruckus fans.

“It’s been a long winding road for us,” Heritage coach Todd Goodman, who led the team to back-to-back state titles in 2018-19 before winning a third one in 2023. “Last year was certainly a disappointing season for us and while there were a lot of factors involved, the bottom line is that you are what your record says you are. But what I liked about last year was that we took ownership of it, and we built from it. We went through the sorrows of last year to reach the joys that we are feeling right now, and it makes you appreciate this that much more.”

The Patriots (16-3-1) advance to the Class 4A state semifinals next week at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand where they will be the No. 2 seed and take on No. 3 Fort Walton Beach on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 4. Orlando Bishop Moore will be the top seed and square off against No. 4 Naples in the opposite semi.

There was plenty of back and forth drama all night, but none like the final minute of regulation as Heritage’s season was down to its last 60 seconds.

Trailing 2-1 with 45 seconds left, the Patriots got a deep throw-in from the corner by Ivan Powers. When Lakes goalkeeper Daniel Alvarez couldn’t get to it, Artem Torbinskii managed to get a foot on the loose ball and tap it into the bottom right corner as the Heritage bench went wild.

“I was watching the entire game that they were having trouble clearing the ball around the net,” Torbinskii said. “When I saw the throw-in coming in I was waiting to see if I could get to a loose ball and managed to get a foot on it. What a feeling when it went in.”

The Patriots went even wilder four minutes into the first overtime when Tiago Cardoso set up for a long free kick. With a powerful leg, and the goal 75 yards away, Cardoso hit a towering high shot that landed down in front of the net. The ball then took a high bounce and went over Alvarez’s head and into the net.

Just when it looked like Heritage was headed to a 3-2 victory, the Bears, who were looking to get back to the state final four after a heartbreaking loss to Naples Barron Collier in last year’s state title game, had some late heroics of their own.

With just 1:30 left in the second OT, the Mater Lakes got a corner kick and worked it to perfection as Liam Barzola found Gabrielle Coots near the far post. Coots got a clean header on the ball and knocked it past a diving Vanhaeren, and it was the Mater Lakes bench’s turn to go wild.

The No. 4 seeded Bears (14-3-2), who were coming off a regional semifinal overtime upset of No. 1 Belen Jesuit, took a 1-0 lead after the first round of PKs when backup goalkeeper Alex Morejon (who was called on after Alvarez got red carded with four minutes left in the second overtime) dove to his left and made a save off a shot from Clayton Boone.

But Vanhaeren came up with his own save in the second frame squaring things at 1-1 after two frames. Nobody missed after that until ML’s Anier Melendez stepped up in the last of the fifth with Heritage up 4-3 and Vanhaeren made his second save ending the contest.

“I wasn’t looking at his eyes, I was looking at his plant foot and that gave me an idea which way he was going,” said Vanhaeren. “I was always ready for the pressure, I welcome the pressure and have no problem with it falling on me. We practiced these things (penalty kicks) like crazy every single day after practice and I knew I was ready for this. This was my moment to shine.”

Asked about the trials and tribulations of last season, Torbinskii didn’t hesitate.

“We didn’t do a good job last year when everything went really bad,” he said. “But I think we all learned from that and got things right this year. Going through all of that really makes us appreciate this moment that much more.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 8:46 AM.