Mater Lakes boys’ soccer team unable to overcome rough start in state final loss

Everything just happened too fast.

Mater Lakes gave up three first-half goals and ended up falling to Naples Barron Collier 4-2 in the Class 4A boys soccer state championship game on Friday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

“I’m very proud of my boys, they have been amazing,” Mater Lakes coach Davide Favaro said. “Our team has been amazing. That’s all I can say, and I am very proud of my team. I couldn’t speak more positively about them.”

Trailing 3-0 Mater Lakes responded with a goal by senior defender Thomas Gomez with just 1:47 remaining in the first half to narrow the Barron Collier lead to 3-1.

“It was very hard. I am really at a loss for words right now,” Gomez said. “I thought we had enough to win this game but we fell short.”

Barron Collier pushed the lead to 4-1 just five minutes into the second half on a goal by senior midfielder Andrew Goduti, his second of the night.

“They scored in the first 10 minutes and then it’s not easy,” Favaro said. “It was a very hard start. We tried to get back but we lost some balance and we needed to score again.We tried and it just didn’t go through.”

Mater Lakes scored again with 2:07 remaining on a goal by Fernando Carrasco but the game was out of reach by then as cold winds and temperatures blanketed the field.

Mater Lakes finished the season with an incredible 21-1-1 record.

“Our (success) is all on the players. There was a lot of sacrifice and a lot of application. I believe that has been the secret to our team,” Favaro said.

Barron Collier also picked goals from Logan Tsopanoglu and Marc Schmidt in the first half blitz. It was the first boys soccer state championship in program history for Barron Collier.

“It’s always important to get out front early, especially for us,” Barron Collier coach John Demasco said. “We’ve had a lot of success but it’s always been best in the tougher games to get out in front. It puts a little pressure on the other team.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 9:40 PM.