Boca Raton sweeps
Gonzalez goal lifts Bobcats boys, girls rout Wellington
BOCA RATON — Senior Christian Gonzalez scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season in the 21st minute as host Boca Raton topped Celebration, 1-0 on Wednesday night for the Class 7A Region 4 championship.
“This win was great,” said Gonzalez, who helped the Bobcats (22-0-2) advance to the state semifinals for a second straight season. Boca Raton will play in the Class 7A state semifinals against top-seeded Doral Academy next Thursday at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. “It was a hard-fought battle the whole time. We didn’t play that great the first half, we just had to keep calm and wait for our opportunities.
“It was the most important goal I have scored all season,” Gonzalez added. “We talked about this game since Day 1. We knew it was coming and we just kept working hard.”
Boca Raton coach Marcelo Castillo said it has been his team’s goal to get to the state championship game and his team is one win away.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” Castillo said. “We felt last year there were some factors that had it taken away from us, so we had a chip on our shoulders this year. A lot of the alumni who graduated last year were here tonight and sent us incredible messages of support.”
The Bobcats outshot the Storm 9-2, and Boca Raton junior goalkeeper Carmine Ricciardi came up big with an acrobatic save off a laser by Celebration’s senior forward Santiago Garcia in the 70th minute to post his 17th shutout of the year.
“I think we held our composure a little bit more than they did, and I think that was the determining factor,” Castillo said. “As a soccer guy, sometimes you play beautiful futbol and you lose, and sometimes you play ugly futbol and you win. Today was one of those latter ones…I think today, the better team won.”
Celebration (11-3-2) fell to host Boca Raton for a second straight year in the regional final. In last year’s highly contentious match, a 2-1 Boca Raton win, several Bobcats were suspended and unable to play in the state semifinal against the eventual state champion, East Ridge.
The last time the Boca Raton boys soccer team was undefeated at this point of the season, the Bobcats went on to close out a memorable season by winning the school’s fourth state championship, finishing 28-0 in 2020.
Boca girls also headed to 7A final four:
Emma Kate Lee scored two goals off headers in the 52nd and 53rd minutes to break open a tight game and helped the Bobcats (17-2-2) down visiting Wellington 6-1 in their Class 7A regional final. Boca Raton will play in the state semifinals on Thursday.
Lee, who only had one goal and two assists entering the match, finished with two goals and three assists from her defensive midfield position. Sophomore Adrianna Gonzalez assisted on both of Lee’s goals on corner kicks, while senior Marina Klemetsmo (two goals), senior Ava Kooker, and senior Sarah Coelho also scored.
Wellington (15-4) got its lone goal from senior Hannah Pahl in the 74th minute.