Strong start by Douglas reflected in rankings FSU coach meets commits
Just one month into the high school season, the Douglas boys soccer team has soared to unfamiliar territory — a Top 15 national ranking, and Top-5 ranking in the state — each by MaxPreps.
“I can’t remember the last time we were ranked this high,” said Douglas coach Phil Lamarre, whose team fell in the regional final in his senior year (2006) when the team had reached 24th in the nation. He’s in his fifth year as coach. “I think the last three years we continue to break that record, but rankings don’t get you district titles or to states.”
Douglas has gotten off to a perfect 9-0 start and is ranked 14th in the country and fourth in the state. The team was hit hard by graduation last season, but has gotten timely goals from senior midfielder Daniel Medeiros, who has scored a team-leading 10 times.
Douglas leads District 12-5A with a 3-0 record. The Eagles have been to three district finals in the past four years and won titles in 2014 and 2017. It lost in last year’s regional final.
“We lost some great seniors that helped build a culture,” Lamarre said, “but it was passed on to the younger guys and every day these kids show up ready to work whether it’s a training session or game.”
Cypress Bay (8-0) won its fifth state title in the last seven years with a 1-0 victory over Lakewood Ranch. They are 11th in the state and 30th nationally in the same poll.
With just three varsity players back from last year’s team, Cypress Bay coach Colin Ilgner still believes his team can win another state championship.
Senior forward Mateo Pieschacon, the 2017 Sun Sentinel Large School Boys Player of the Year, recently returned from the Weston Developmental Academy. Junior Gustavo Curiel leads the team with 10 goals this season.
“As usual we have a huge target on our back,” Ilgner said. “We are up to the challenge and will try our best to get the state title.”
Cypress Bay, St. Thomas Aquinas, and American Heritage-Plantation have each won five state championships.
St. Thomas Aquinas is counting on juniors Ignacio Cubeddu (F), and AJ Pearce (GKP) among others to lead the school deep into the postseason. The Raiders haven’t made it past the regional semifinals since 2011, when they won the fifth of their state championships.
American Heritage graduated Landon Lupo, the Sun Sentinel smallschools Boys Player of the Year, and lost sophomore Shanyder Borgelin and senior Joseph Vinson to academies. Borgelin reportedly spurned an offer to play in Germany to play for the Philadelphia Union Academy. The Patriots are off to an 8-0-1 record thanks to junior Sebastian Vidarte’s nine goals.
Pembroke Pines Charter is off to the best start in school history at 10-0 and plays at Douglas on Friday at 7 p.m. Sophomore forward Ashton Cooper leads the county with 21 goals, including four against Cardinal Gibbons, McArthur and Stranahan. Senior defender Yannick Blackman and senior forward Michael Reid have also played well for the Jaguars.
Boca Raton Christian smashed school records last year in winning its first district title and advancing all the way to the regional final before dropping a 1-0 decision to the eventual state runner-up Lakeland Christian.
Boca Christian coach and Blazers alum David Weil expects his team to make states this year, and despite graduating some key pieces, Sun Sentinel small-schools Player of the Douglas coach Phil Lamarre
Year Stefan Kneffel returns. The junior scored 42 goals and dished out 12 assists last year.
Boca Raton, which saw its 14-year district championship reign come to an end last season, is counting on senior midfielder and Virginia Commonwealth commit Chris Altonen and senior forward Ryan DeBiase to lead the way. The Bobcats also return junior forward Sebastian Jaramillo, who was sidelined last season with an injury.
American HeritageDelray is off to a 4-2 start thanks to senior strikers Douglas Phillips and Alex Guichard.
Park Vista’s boys team (4-0) is nearly halfway to its win total of last season (9-4-4). Senior Welsen Aldajuste has been converted from defender to striker this year.
New Florida State football coach Willie Taggart was in South Florida on Wednesday to meet with the two Broward County prospects already committed in the Seminoles’ 2018 recruiting class he inherited.
Taggart met with fourstar St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. at the school in the morning and passed by Deerfield Beach late in the afternoon to see three-star linebacker Rosendo Louis, who also had an inhome visit from Taggart in the evening. Both are Under Armour AllAmerica selections.
Earlier Wednesday morning, Samuel met with Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and safeties coach Ephraim Banda. As a prospect who does not plan to sign during the new early signing period Dec. 20-22, Samuel said he is “still thinking” and is likely to take visits to UM and FSU in January. The Hurricanes have swooped into the mix for Samuel recently following former Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher’s departure to Texas A&M.
Samuel, who committed to FSU on April 13, also has South Carolina in consideration. He visited the Gamecocks on Oct. 28 when they hosted Vanderbilt.
Taggart was joined by defensive coordinator Charles Kelly and linebackers coach Bill Miller in meeting with Louis. Bucks coach Jevon Glenn said the visit to the school “went awesome.”
Louis, whose two interactions with Taggart were the first he or Glenn have ever had, is also weighing the possibility of ending up at South Carolina. He is scheduled to visit the Gamecocks’ campus this weekend.
Louis, who committed to the ’Noles on Aug. 15, plans on enrolling early at the college of his choice.
On Wednesday, Stranahan athlete Maurquel Dillard joined him in announcing he was committing to FIU. Dillard, who visited the Panthers over the weekend, was previously a Western Kentucky commit.
Peterson, previously committed to USF, said he will be signing during the early period.