Overtime loss ends gutsy performance at state for Pines Charter boys’ soccer

What a difference 24 hours can make.

On the same field where the Pembroke Pines Charter boys soccer team had euphorically celebrated on Friday night following a stunning upset of No. 5 nationally-ranked Tampa Jesuit in a 5A state semifinal, Saturday night told an entirely different story.

This time the scene was one you’ve seen before. Players sprawled on the ground in despair and coaches walking around trying to peel them up off the ground.

Such was the plight for the Jaguars as they suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to St. Johns Beachside in the Class 5A state championship game at Spec Martin Stadium.

The end was tough to take for Jaguars and their fans as the game was ultimately decided on a controversial foul call inside the box on Pines Charter’s Arjun Nambiar with 1:45 left in the first overtime.

The PPC bench and players on the field were not happy about the call and voiced their displeasure but were helpless to do anything about it.

Then, just 24 hours after putting on a dazzling display of goalkeeping in a penalty kick win over Jesuit, Charter keeper Mateo Vasquez couldn’t save his team this time.

Beachside’s Davi Martins stepped up and drilled the penalty kick right down the middle as Vasquez dove to his right.

Led by senior captain Gabriel Calderon, the Jaguars (12-6-3), who were making their third straight final four appearance and second-ever championship game appearance, losing to Tampa Jesuit in 2020, pressed hard over the last 12 minutes doing everything they could to find the equalizing goal.

Calderon had two chances in the final two minutes, one when Charter was granted a direct kick 15 yards out in front of the net when Beachside keeper Brian Garland was called for delay of game. But his kick went into the wall of Beachside players before being cleared out.

With 45 seconds left and the Jaguars in desperation mode, he managed to grab a pass on the left side, find some space and cut loose with a twisting shot from 20 yards out, but Garland was able to make the easy save.

“It was a very intense game and maybe there was a lack of composure at times on our part when we had possession and lacked execution,” Pines Charter coach Marc Lue Young said. “We just didn’t capitalize on our chances when we had them down the stretch. Then we went to overtime and get the call that goes against us which was very upsetting because there were a couple of times earlier in the game where it looked like we might’ve gotten fouled in the box and there was no whistle. It is what it is and we’ll have to live with it.”

Lue Young certainly was happy with the way the game started as the Jaguars controlled possession for the first 20 minutes and then got the lead at the 21:13 mark. Forward Julian Iodice found a clearing 25 yards out in the middle of the field and let go of a left-footed rocket shot that found the top left corner of the net past a diving Garland.

But their 1-0 lead was short-lived as Beachside (19-2-2), a brand-new school that just opened its doors three years ago, got the equalizing goal six minutes later. Austin Kerns took a pass down low and managed to get Vasquez into a one-on-one situation and easily beat him with a ball into the lower left of the net 15:09 before halftime.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams getting some quality scoring chances but both goalkeepers stepped up and kept the ball out of the net.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t get the result we wanted but to come this far after so much adversity we faced, I think in our book is still a win,” Calderon said. “Our team fought hard tonight but two intense games on back-to-back nights is tough. We used up a lot of energy last night going to PKs with the No. 1 seed and one of the top teams in the nation and it took a lot out of us. Having to come back and play again 24 hours later, to have to go out and do the same thing again, it could’ve definitely been a factor.”

Said Young: “Coming out of our own region as a No. 4 seed and to have gotten all the way here to the state final is remarkable and I’m very grateful to this group. We suffered through injuries and adversity during the season but we were determined to try and bring one home to West Pines. Unfortunately tonight it just didn’t go our way.”