Cypress Bay boys’ soccer back in the state semifinals after holding off Coral Reef
Cypress Bay is back in familiar territory: the state semifinals.
The Lightning scored in the opening minutes and held on the entire way to beat Coral Reef, 2-1, in the Region 4-7A championship Wednesday at Cypress Bay High School in Weston. The win sends the Lightning back to the final four for the first time since 2017 and the seventh time since 2011.
“It’s tough because plenty of teams when they go to a playoff game, they’re fine,” Cypress Bay coach Colin Ilgner said. “Last year, we got knocked out in the regional semifinal for the first time in a while and everyone was like, ‘Coach, you really underachieved.’ ”
The Lightning (15-1-5) will have to go on the road to get back to the soccer state championship for the first time since 2017, though. Cypress Bay will travel to face Boca Raton in the Class 7A semifinals Saturday at Boca Raton High School.
The path back to the semifinals wasn’t as smooth as it often was throughout past decade, when the Lightning became one of the most successful programs in Florida High School Athletic Association history. Cypress Bay was only the No. 3 seed in its region and had to go on the road to beat Coral Gables in extra time in the region semifinals Saturday just to get back to the region championship for the 10th time in 11 years.
On Wednesday, The Lightning had to withstand a final push from the Barracudas.
Cypress Bay scored in just the second minute on a shot from the edge of the box by Bautista Hambra, then added a second in the 18th minute. A long pass cleared Coral Reef’s defense and Nicholas Diaz chased down the ball in open space. The senior won his one-on-one duel with the goalkeeper and sent the Lightning into the second half ahead 2-0.
The early lead let Cypress Bay play its game.
“It was really good that we got the goals early, and we always defend compact and we had a really good defense,” Ilgner said. “That early goal, second-minute free kick, was really key, took them out of the game and let them start pushing. We could start playing compact and counterattacking.”
The Lightning spent most of the last 40 minutes on its heels, absorbing the Barracudas’ blows. Coral Reef (17-5-1) cut the lead in half on a penalty kick by forward Amir Yengoulene with about 25 minutes left, then spent the rest of the game hunting — and coming agonizingly close — to forcing extra time.
“Their intensity was up there, and they had that boost because of the penalty,” Diaz said, “so we just had to defend and fight through for the last 15 minutes.”
Cypress Bay senior Santino Lupica-Tondo only made two saves in those final 15 minutes, but it was because he was playing the role of the Lightning’s de facto sweeper, charging out of the net to break up passes near the edge of the box.
Shortly after they cut Cypress Bay’s lead in half, the Barracudas had another opportunity as a lofted cross in the box was headed toward an unmarked forward. Lupica-Tondo cut off the pass and caught the ball out of the air. A few minutes later, Coral Reef sent a long pass to the net and Lupica-Tondo raced out of his goal to grab the ball before the Barracudas striker could track it down behind the Lightning’s back line.
Ilgner said Lupica-Tondo is perennially underrated because of his size. Opponents walk on to the field and assume they can just shoot over the undersized goalkeeper.
He makes up for it with his fearlessness and his ranginess across the box, and those skills moved Cypress Bay within two wins of grabbing a fifth state title.
“His saves are like incredible,” Diaz said. “He’s brave. He’s a brave keeper.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 9:32 PM.
