Doral boys soccer ‘hungry’ to repeat as state champions. They’re one step closer
The Doral Academy boys’ soccer team set the standard last year when it finally broke through and won its first state title in school history.
From here on out, that’s the goal every year.
“We’re not going to settle for anything less,” Doral coach Pamela McDonald said.
So while McDonald’s team celebrated its 4-1 Region 4-6A final win over Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer on Wednesday, the Firebirds know the grander task is still at hand. They still have two more games they need to win, starting with Saturday’s state semifinal against Ponte Vedra, if they want to defend their state title.
“We’ve won regionals twice in a row,” senior Mateo Hincapie said. “Now, we’re going to win twice in a row at states. Two-peat. Back-to-back.”
Hincapie has been one of several key players for the Firebirds (14-2-3) this season, and he came up clutch in the second half when they started to get complacent.
Doral led 2-0 at halftime and was playing with a two-man advantage for the final 23 minutes after two Dwyer players received red cards.
But the Panthers took advantage of sloppy play by Doral in their defensive third and cut the Firebirds’ lead to 2-1 in the 65th minute.
“We were kind of strolling,” McDonald said, “which worried me.”
It turned out to be a needed wake-up call. Some nifty dribbling down the field by senior Carlos Zambrano helped set up a goal by Hincapie in the 67th minute to put Doral back in control. It was Hincapie’s eighth goal of the season, second on the team behind only the 14 scored by Zambrano.
Freshman Gianluca Vieco tapped in an insurance goal in the 75th minute to cap scoring.
“We came back quick, thankfully,” Hincapie said.
The return to form came after a dominant first half. After a slew of near misses in the opening 20 minutes — “we could have scored three or four,” McDonald said, “and it would have been game over” — Doral finally opened scoring in the 26th minute when junior Angel Perez corralled a rebound off Dwyer’s goalkeeper and fired a shot from 12 yards away into the net.
Not even three minutes later, the Firebirds doubled their lead when senior Diego Avalos scored with an assist from Perez.
The momentum was on their side from there.
“We just fight for everything,” Perez said, “and everything just fell into place.”
And everything remains in place for Doral to accomplish its grander goal. Another state title is two wins away.
“We just have the same attitude,” McDonald said. “I think because when you’ve won a state championship and you have that experience, these guys feel hungry. Me, as a coach, you’re not happy with just one. You want to keep going and you know that you have the capability.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 11:52 PM.
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