High schools
American Heritage and St. Thomas Aquinas finish in a 1-1 tie in boys soccer on Wednesday night.
FORT LAUDERDALE — In a game that featured teams that have combined for 11 boys state soccer championships, American Heritage and host St. Thomas Aquinas fittingly played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
Both coaches agreed the speed of play is what they expect moving forward with their respective district tournaments around the corner.
“I thought it was a fast, hotly contested game,” said American Heritage coach Todd Goodman, whose Patriots (11-1-3) suffered their first loss of the season with a 2-0 setback against host Gulliver Prep on Jan. 12. “[This] is the kind of match that we schedule every year to prepare for the districts and the playoffs.”
The Raiders (11-3-3) entered the contest riding a seven-game shutout streak dating back to a 1-1 draw against Cooper City on Dec. 8.
The streak was snapped in the 13th minute when sophomore Camilo Espinosa hit a left-footed cross to the head of junior forward Morris Senior, who nodded the ball past St. Thomas Aquinas junior goalkeeper Alexander Pearce for his 11th goal of the season.
The Raiders, with five state titles in school history, had gone 579 minutes without a goal allowed since Cooper City scored in the 74th minute.
“We frankly hadn’t paid much attention to the [streak],” said St. Thomas coach John Walsh. “We try to play shutout football from the back and build going forward. I am sure my goalkeeper isn’t happy giving up a goal from inside the six…it wasn’t that much of a distraction to us.”
The Raiders wasted little time in equalizing as junior Logan Lupo scored on a free kick from 20 yards out in the 15th minute past Patriots freshman goalkeeper Ralph Montero for his seventh goal of the season.
American Heritage was thwarted on a golden opportunity with two minutes remaining in the first half when junior midfielder Benjamin Grassi drew Pearce out of his goal and his shot towards the empty goal was cleared off the line by sophomore Victor Sava.
American Heritage has won six state titles, but hasn’t reached the final four since 2013 when it lost the state championship to Ponte Vedra, 2-0. The Patriots lost in the regional finals last season to Immokalee 3-2 (5-4 PKs).
St. Thomas Aquinas has won five state titles, but hasn’t reached the final four since 2011 when it last won the Class 5A state championship with a 4-0 win over Plant City Durant. The Raiders fell in the regional quarterfinals last year to Doral Reagan 1-0 in the Class 4A contest.