Gulliver Prep boys repeat as 4A soccer champions
AUBURNDALE
Put it in the books — at the very top.
Gulliver Prep repeated as Class 4A boys’ soccer state champions at the FHSAA Finals on Saturday at Lake Myrtle Park, turning back Orlando Bishop Moore 1-0 in the title game.
The win not only gave the defending champions back-to-back titles, but Gulliver now has nine boys soccer state championships, tying Clearwater Central Catholic for the most in state history.
“We went to California this year and played a whole bunch of teams there,” Gulliver Prep coach Scott Davidson said. “It was a very meaningful experience in terms of growing as a team and growing as a group. We played some wonderful teams and I think that kind of catapulted us to the level of play that we are playing at.”
After a scoreless first half, Gulliver scored the game’s only goal when Cosme Salas launched a corner kick toward the Bishop Moore goal and Jacob Lombard fielded it and delivered the score.
“I felt like we had a little bit of an advantage there and it worked out pretty well,” Davidson said.
Lombard celebrated by doing a series of flips through the air toward the home stands.
“I saw we had an opportunity on the cross and a guy jumped in front of me and ended up not hitting it,”Lombard said. “It came off my shoulder. There’s a little bit of luck in having a season like this to be honest, and we came out on top.”
Lombard said this season’s title felt better than last year’s.
“Last year, I had my brother with me and that made it a special season, but this group of guys never backed down from any challenge,” Lombard said. “We just went out there and played our hardest and that made it special. We had a little bit of pressure but we trusted in our ability and did it.”
The rest of the game was much like the first half, a defensive struggle for both teams. But when the clock struck zero, Gulliver Prep players reacted with a wild celebration which saw a mob of players crashing through the fence to reach the stands and celebrate with fans.
“We’ve had a lot of clean sheets this year and I felt we could hang onto the lead,” Davidson said. “We had two or three other chances where I thought we were going to finish and make the margin a little bit better. But I felt good about this.”
Davidson said he felt this year’s championship came harder than last year’s title.
“We felt a lot of pressure game after game, we didn’t lose all year,” Davidson said. “Teams kind of did what these guys did tonight, which is kind of sit back on us and made it a challenge. It mentally wore on us a little bit, but it was also super fun and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Gulliver Prep finished the season 25-0-1, with its only blemish coming in a 1-1 tie Jan. 19 against Downtown Doral.