American Heritage boys’ soccer to play for state title in bounce back season

Perhaps spoiled by all the years and even decades of success and championships, the Plantation American Heritage boys’ soccer team suffered through a miserable 3-7-7 season a year ago. It was the Patriots’ first losing season in more than a quarter of a century.

Having gone through that humbling experience made Heritage players appreciate the moment that much more early Thursday evening. After battling Fort Walton Beach to a 1-1 regulation/overtime tie, Heritage pulled out a 4-3 victory in penalty kicks to win its Class 4A state semifinal contest at Spec Martin Stadium.

When you play soccer at Heritage, the big celebrations are usually reserved for when you take home the big state championship trophy.

But when Fort Walton Beach player Isaiah Esparza went too high and over the crossbar with his shot in the bottom of the fifth frame of PKs, Patriot players went wild.

They first sprinted toward their winning goalie Alex Vanhaeren and then turned their attention to the stands where they ran over to celebrate with their fans.

“From where we were a year ago to where we’re standing right now is just amazing and a true testament to our perseverance as a group,” said senior forward Clayton Boone, who scored his team’s lone goal off a perfect corner kick set piece with 18 minutes left in regulation to give his team a 1-0 lead. “It was definitely a humbling experience and makes us appreciate where we’re at right now that much more.”

The Patriots, who have become experts at winning state semifinal games moving their record to 12-1 all time, will look to lock down their ninth state championship on Saturday at 1 when they take on Orlando Bishop Moore in the 4A state title game.

Bishop Moore recorded a 2-0 shutout of Naples in the opposite semifinal.

The Hornets, who last won a state title in 2000, will be looking to snap a four-year string of state losses to South Florida teams. They lost three consecutive state title games from 2022-24 to St. Brendan and Gulliver Prep twice before losing to Mater Lakes Academy in the state semifinals a year ago.

The win was pure justice for Heritage as the Patriots were a frustrated bunch during the two 10-minute overtime periods. Two golden scoring opportunities went unrewarded, forcing the PKs. The first came as the clock in the first overtime was expiring when a nice throw-in by Morocco Mulling found its way in front of the net. Andrew Pavlov managed to get a piece of the ball, which then slowly trickled towrd the goal but drifted inches wide of the right post.

Four minutes into the second OT, Sebastian Mayorga broke loose down the left side and made a perfect centering pass in front of the net that Thiago Chaves rocketed at the goal. The ball bounced off the left post and actually came right back to him. Chaves then took a second shot that went just to the left of the post.

As he did in a regional final penalty kick victory over Mater Lakes last week, Vanhaeren came through with a clutch save again to give his team an early 2-1 lead. But when Fort Walton Beach keeper Wesley Markoch made a nice save off the foot of Tiago Cardoso in the third frame, things were all squared again. After Ivan Powers and Gianluigi Gonzalez both made their kicks in the fourth and fifth frames, Esparza stepped up and went too high with his to end the contest.

It looked like the Patriots (17-3-1) would take the lead with 31 minutes left in regulation when the Vikings (14-6-3) were called for a hand ball in the box. But Pavlov went high with his penalty kick leaving the game scoreless. Heritage finally broke through with 18 minutes left when Powers dropped a perfect corner kick in front of the net that Boone headed in.

“A majority of our goals are off set pieces and a majority of them are usually scored by so it’s just a ball that I repeatedly put in the same place,” Powers said. “If I can do that, Clay will find a way to score. We practice this stuff everyday over and over so it was just another day of practice when we executed the play.”

Boone paid the compliment back to Powers.

“The thing about Ivan, he might be the best corner kick taker I’ve played with,” Boone said. “It’s just really easy for him to get the ball at the near post where I like it and it was easy pickings for me when he did that today.”

Unfortunately for both, their well-executed goal didn’t hold up. The Patriots were less than five minutes away from winning in regulation when Fort Walton Beach, which before losing in a state semifinal a year ago, had not made a final four appearance since 1984, tied the game with 4:34 left.

It came when Vikings forward Juanma Cotes beat the Heritage defense down the left side and got the corner turned. Cotes rocketed a left foot shot that Vanhaeren dove to his left and saved. But he couldn’t hang on to the ball and Brian Velazquez was there to knock in the loose ball tying the game at one.

“I thought we came out initially very strong as we pressed high, created some chances but just couldn’t cash in,” said Heritage coach Todd Goodman, who will be going for his fourth state title on Saturday having won back-to-back titles in 2018-19 and a third in 2023. “But we stayed patient, didn’t get frustrated and were rewarded on a very nice set piece off a corner that got us in the lead. Obviously we were disappointed that we gave up the late equalizer but the boys did a nice job of keeping their poise, not hanging their heads and continuing to play hard, ultimately getting rewarded in the end with a great win.”