Senior Jasmine Romay scored 2 goals to lead Miami Springs to GMAC girls’ soccer final

Having beaten them convincingly two weeks ago in a 5-0 regular-season win, the Miami Springs High School girls’ soccer team got a whole lot more than they bargained for Wednesday afternoon when the Golden Hawks hosted Ferguson in a GMAC semifinal.

But thanks to two goals just three minutes apart just before halftime, that proved to be enough as host Springs hung on to beat the Falcons 3-1 at Stafford Park.

Senior midfielder Jasmine Romay was the standout performer for the Hawks on this day as she scored two goals and assisted on the other.

With the win, the Springs (16-1) advances to its first GMAC final since 2017 and will take on top seeded and three-time defending GMAC champion Coral Reef in the championship game on Friday at a site and time to be determined.

“They definitely changed up a few things on us from what we saw a few weeks ago and were a much tougher team today and props to them,” said Romay of her opponent. “Fortunately we managed to get two quick goals right before halftime which allowed us to play the second half with the lead.”

With a stiff wind playing a big factor, it appeared Springs, which enjoyed the wind in the first half, might go into halftime scoreless and be at a disadvantage in the second half.

But Romay, off a throw-in from Gabi Cimino, managed to get to a loose ball in front of the net and top shelfed it on the left side just five minutes before the half.

Three minutes later, Romay and Cimino teamed up again, Romay nailing a perfect centering pass that Cimino right footed past Ferguson keeper Sophia Blanco to make it 2-0 at the break.

Thanks to solid defense and two great saves by keeper Andrea Leon, Springs protected the lead for most of the second half. But when Ferguson’s Mia Ramos rifled a perfectly placed direct kick from 20 yards out into the top right corner of the net, it was 2-1 and there were still seven minutes left.

But the Falcons never enjoyed another quality chance before Romay, from 40 yards out, rocketed perfectly placed high ball just high enough to clear Blanco’s outstretched arms and low enough to get under the crossbar for the clinching goal with less than a minute left.

Coral Reef wins

After dropping a 1-0 decision to South Dade two weeks ago, their first district loss in five years, it appeared Coral Reef was headed for the same fate on Wednesday afternoon in a GMAC semifinal at Coral Reef High School.

The Barracudas trailed the Bucs by the same score but then rallied to tie the game with 15 minutes left and won it 2-1 by winning the penalty kick shootout 3-2. The win advances Reef (15-2-1) to Friday’s championship game where they will go for their fourth straight GMAC title.

“We’re glad to get the win but it’s frustrating right now because we’ve had so many scoring opportunities lately and just can’t find the back of the net to save our lives,” said Reef coach Deano Nunez. “With districts and regionals on the horizon, hopefully we can get this straightened out.”

Reef’s only goal came on a penalty kick by Tianna Rivera after South Dade was called for a hand ball in the box. Rivera, Kat Diaz and Daniela Perez then knocked in the shootout PKs.

Reagan boys advance

Trailing Coral Reef 1-0 with less than 10 minutes left, the perfect season put together by the Reagan boys soccer team was in serious jeopardy in a GMAC semifinal on Wednesday afternoon.

But Daniel Lazardi came to the rescue as he scored twice in the last 10 minutes, including the game winner on an assist from Mateo Amado with four minutes left to rally the host Bison to a 2-1 win over Reef at Doral Park.

Lazardi tied the game by scoring off an assist from Mario Mendez with nine minutes left as Reagan improved to 15-0 and will take on Coral Gables in the GMAC final on Friday at a site and time to be determined.

Coral Gables rallies

An early 2-0 deficit proved to be no problem for the Coral Gables boys soccer team Wednesday evening as the Cavaliers battled their way all the way back to edge host Miami Beach 3-2 (7-6 PKs) at Memorial Field.

Kevin Espinosa scored one goal for Gables (13-0-2) just before halftime off an assist from Samuel Avellaneda to slice the defict in half before Jason Wood scored off an assist from August Field just before the second half water break to tie it.

After each team scored all five of its penalty kicks in the shootout, Carlos Gonzalez eventually hit the game winner for Gables.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 8:20 PM.