Orangewood, Bishop Moore fall
The Rams run at perfection ends in title game
The Orangewood Christian boys soccer team came up short in its bid to repeat as Class 1A champions, falling on penalty kicks to Hillel in the championship match Tuesday night. Adrian Outerino, right, and Bishop Moore, meanwhile, were outscored 4-0 in the second half of a 4-1 loss to Ransom Everglades in a Class 2A semifinal.
MELBOURNE – It was only a matter of time before Orangewood Christian netted a goal in the Class 1A state title game. Or so it seemed.
The Rams put shots on goal at a steady pace late Tuesday at Melbourne High School, but for the second night in a row it came down to penalty kicks for the defending champs.
Orangewood Christian (20-1-3) went on to fall 1-0 (5-4) to North Miami Beach Hillel (19-0-1), ending its streak of 45 unbeaten matches.
Orangewood goalkeeper Chase Honerbrink and Hillel’s Alan Landau each made big saves in the opening round of penalty kicks while allowing four goals in the process.
It was Landau who made the biggest save of all though when he dove to his right and knocked away an effort by Orangewood’s Scott Morell.
The Rams advanced from the semifinal round against Melbourne Holy Trinity on penalty kicks 3-1 a night earlier.
Orangewood was looking to become the first area team to win back-toback boys soccer titles since Daytona Beach Seabreeze did so in Class 3A in 1992-93.
Orangewood, already outnumbered as a large contingent of Hillel supporters made the trip, missed on numerous scoring chances in the first half.
Chase Gwynn bounced two shots off the near post from the left side over a span of six minutes early in match. He sent another shot wide right with 24 minutes left in the half, then sent a header over the crossbar two minutes later.
The Rams had three solid looks inside the final 16 minutes of the first half, including a header by A.J. Moulton, but they came away empty each time.
The going got no better in the second half as Orangewood had two potential goals overturned by infractions, the last of which came with 13 minutes left. Three minutes later John Lowery missed wide left on a header while charging the middle of the box.
Lowery was also stifled by Landau with 26 minutes to play.
Hillel missed on two scoring opportunities inside the final two minutes, most notably when Netty Silberman was off the mark on an open net with 40 seconds to spare.