Reagan soccer comes back for another victory
Trailing by two goals in the second half of Thursday’s District 16-4A semifinal against a talented one-loss Doral Academy team, the season of the Ronald Reagan boys’ soccer team appeared to be on life support.
Only the Bison has been down this avenue many times before and have yet to flinch.
Thursday, the Bison scored three unanswered goals — including the game-winner with eight minutes remaining to stun the Firebirds 3-2 at Traz Powell Stadium.
Reagan was just six days removed from rallying with a late game-tying goal before beating Ferguson in overtime to win a first-ever GMAC title. The Bison (20-3-2) will face undefeated Belen Jesuit in the district final on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Traz.
Belen easily cruised past Mater Academy 6-0 in the second seminal.
“These kids have been doing this all season,” Reagan coach Marino Torrens Sr. said. “We were down to [Doral] 2-0 in the second half in a regular season and fought back to tie them with a late goal so I knew what they could do.
“I told them at the second half water break, ‘we’ve been here before, we know what to do’ and darn if they didn’t go out there and do it again. What an amazing group of kids.”
The deciding goal came off the right foot of junior Owen Green, who after a long throw-in by Daniel Garanton and subsequent loose ball in the air in front of the net, got a foot on it and knocked it into the top left corner of the net.
“Daniel made a great long throw-in and everyone just kind of jumped up for it,” Green said of his game-winner.
“The ball just popped over to me and I had very little time to think, I didn’t want to let it hit the ground so I just reached out to get a foot on it and send it towards the net. What a feeling when it went in.”
After Doral took a 1-0 lead to halftime thanks to a Josue Roldan goal in the 10th minute, the second-seeded Firebirds (16-2-3) appeared to put things away just two minutes into the second half when Lucca Barbaris beat Reagan keeper Jonathan Velez to a loose ball and knocked it home to make it 2-0.
But just four minutes later, Reagan forward Andres Gonzalez got the rally going when he turned on a shot from 25 yards out and rifled a hard shot into the left side of the net slicing the Doral lead in half.
Still trailing by one with 13 minutes left, Reagan’s Sergio Nivia turned in a brilliant effort when he turned on a shot from 20 yards out and rocketed a right footer that just squeezed into the top left corner of the net. The ball got past diving Doral keeper Roberto Gatica, who just barely missed the ball with his right hand.
“For regular teams, maybe being down by two goals in the second half against a team like Doral spells the end of the season but this is no ordinary team,” Green said.
“This isn’t the first team we’ve done this against this season and knew what we were capable of doing and today we showed it.”
MORE BOYS’ DISTRICT SOCCER
▪ 16-4A semifinal — Belen Jesuit 6, Mater Academy 0: The Wolverines haven’t lost this season and nothing changed Thursday afternoon as Belen scored twice in the first 10 minutes and cruised to victory. Belen (21-0-2) plays Reagan Saturday at 4 for the championship.
Francisco De la Camara dominated the contest as he scored four of his team’s six goals and now has a county-best 47 this season.
De la Camara has offers from numerous schools and is zeroing in on Boston College, George Washington and RPI. Juan Pereira had the other two goals for Belen. Mater finished 8-7-5.
▪ 12-5A semifinals: Boca Raton 1, Monarch 0 (2 OT); Stoneman Douglas 3, Delray Beach Atlantic 0.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
▪ Booker T. Washington 66, Mater Lakes 64
BTW: Clear 22, Burnett 8, Garnett 9, Dixon 7, Higgins 6, Moris 4. ML: Largie 22, Moralez 21, Rodriguez 5, Mejia 4, Brawnell 4, Cata 8. Half: ML 38-36. 3-pointers: Clear 7, Burnett, Garnett, Cata 2, Moralez 3. Reb: Higgins 13. Ast: Burnett 4. Blk: Higgins 3.
▪ Archbishop Curley 63, Doctors Charter 43
AC (15-8): Anilus 24, Castillo 9, Fields 13, St. Mag 2, Acosta 9, Agustin 5, Hernandez 1. DC: Turnier 18, Romanik 7, Dodds 13, Meighan 2, Stewart 1. Reb: Fields 6. Ast: Anilus 6. Stl: Anilus 4, Fields 4. Half: AC 31-25. 3-pointers: Anilus 3.
▪ Mater 68, Goleman 56
Mat (18-3): Quintana 17, Knight 6, Diaz 11, Frye 21, Stern 5, Monsanto 4, Duquesne 4. Gol: Lopez 22, Pla 3, Benitez 17, Rodriguez 5, Casanova 6, Guido 3. Half: 26-26. Ast: Diaz 5. Stl: Frye 5. Reb: Diaz 11. Blk: Diaz 4. 3-pointers: Pla, Rodriguez, Lopez 2. Quintana 3, Frye 3.
▪ Homestead 46, South Dade 34
Home: J.Collier 27, B.Collier 1, Outten 5, Warren 2, LaCount 9, Parson 2. SD: J.Lipscomb 1, Gilbert 3, Wilborn 11, Gamble 8, Ivey 3, G.Lipscomb 2, Perderton 6. Half: Home 23-10. 3-pointers: Collier 3, LaCount, Wilborn 3, Gamble, Ivey. Reb: J.Collier 15; Ast: J.Collier 5.
▪ Southridge 73, Palmetto 34
SR (15-6): Dean 6, Chandler 2, McNair 6, Figueroa 9, Quinones 10, Keller 21, Damon 5, Flenor 2, Lee 1, Gamble 2, Oshagae 9. Pal: Palmetto: Hardaway 2, Eisenbery 8, Percy 3, Escobar 6, Guerrero 1, Arvanitorolous 14. 3-pointers: Keller 5, Eisenberg 2, Escobar, Arvanitorolous. Reb: Quinones 6. Ast: Dean 7. Stl: McNair, Damon 2. Half: SR 44-18.
▪ Other scores: SLAM 83, Keys Gate 48 (Kaevon Tyler scored 37 points with 10 rebounds; Jonathan Brown 19 points); Miami Christian 67, Champagnant Catholic 56 (OT); Hebrew Academy 36, Ransom Everglades 34; Westminster Academy 66, Calvary Christian 55; Coral Reef 65, Varela 55.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
▪ Gulliver 58, Doral 25
Gul (21-3): Ra.Kaiser 17, Pyatt 6, Pinder 2, Kunkel 3, Jim 3, Thomas 27. Dor: Martinez 10, Adbala 8, Suarez 2, Vega 2. Barrios 3. 3-pointers: Martinez 2, Abdala 2, Barrios, Ra.Kaiser 3, Pyatt, Kunkel, Jim. Reb: Thomas 14. Ast: Kunkel 7. Stl: Kunkel 7. Half: Gul GP 29-14.
▪ South Dade 64, Keys Gate 49
KG: Tyre 18, Denis 14, Velez 9, Calderon 6, oore 2. SD: Ewing 12, Bailey 10, Waller 10, Cooper 9, Johnson 8, Rule 7, Chaney 3, McGee 3, Lopez 2. Half: SD 28-23. 3-pointers: Tyre 2, Rule, McGee. Reb: Denis 17. Ast: Tyre 5. Blk: Denis 12.
▪ Hialeah Educational 37, Hebrew Academy 24
HE: Torres 22, L.Silveira 5, Z.Rodriguez 10. HA: K.Sedighim 8, K.Wolfson 8, M.Levin 4, K.Abromowitz 2, A.Wolfson 2. Half: HE 18-14.
▪ Archbishop Carroll 42, Coral Shores 26
AC: Medina 25, Kozak 9, Seabrook 6, Moyà 2. CS: Greer 9, Galvan 6, Jankowski 6, Oliver 6. Reb: Kozak 11. Ast: Medina 2. Stl: Medina 5. 3-pointers: Medina 2.
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
GMAC championship: Miami High at Ferguson, 7.
BCAA Big 8 semifinals at South Plantation: Deerfield Beach-South Broward winner vs. Blanche Ely-Dillard winner, 6:30; Nova-Cardinal Gibbons winner vs. Northeast-Flanagan winner, 8
BOYS’ SOCCER
District 12-5A final at Douglas: 7
District 13-5A final at Cypress Bay: 7
District 14-5A final at Milander: 7
District 15-5A final at Columbus: 7
District 15-4A final at Nova: 6
District 15-3A final at Pompano Beach: 7
District 16-3A final at Traz Powell: 7
District 14-2A final at University School: 7
District 15-2A final at Ransom Everglades: 7
District 16-2A final at Westminster Christian: 3:30
District 16-1A final: 3:30
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Respect Series at Westminster Academy: McArthur vs. Riviera Beach Inlet Grove, 9:30 a.m.; Riviera Beach Suncoast vs. Coral Reef, 11 a.m.; Coral Springs Charter vs. Central, 12:30; Southridge vs. Fort Lauderdale, 2; Winter Garden West Orange vs. Zion Lutheran, 3:30; Orlando Liberty Christian vs. Northeast, 5; Auburndale vs. Coral Gables, 6:30; Mater Academy vs. Norland, 8; Chaminade-Madonna vs. Westminster Academy, 9:30.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
BCAA Big 8 final at South Plantation: 7
BOYS’ SOCCER
District 14-4A final at Blanche Ely: 7
District 16-4A final at Traz Powell: 4
District 13-1A final at Westminster Academy: 7
District 14-1A final at Miami Country Day: 8
This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Reagan soccer comes back for another victory."