Boca Raton caps perfect season with title

DELAND — Perfection. That’s what the Boca Raton boys soccer team accomplished Saturday night in winning the Class 7A state championship with a 2-0 win over Boone. Perfection.

The Bobcats, led by a 10-man senior class that had never won even a district championship coming in their three previous years, finished the season with a 28-0-0 record.

Joao Negrao scored on a free kick in the first half, then delivered a perfect cross that Max Utrias was able to head into the goal with 21:13 remaining in regulation to clinch the victory.

It’s the fourth state championship in program history. The Bobcats also won titles won in 1990, 2010 and 2016.

“It’s surreal,” Utrias said. “The perfect season, winning here, scoring a goal, too … it’s unbelievable.

“I still can’t believe it. It will probably hit me in the locker room, but it hasn’t hit me yet.”

Negrao’s free kick, which came from just outside the box, hit the crossbar and landed hard, just inside the line with 25:04 remaining in the first half. It was the senior’s 20th goal of the season.

With the Bobcats leading 1-0, the second goal came on a well-executed set play off a corner kick. Negrao made a short pass to Daniel Trani, who sent the ball back to Negrao, who crossed it into the box and found Utrias, who got his head on it for the dagger that gave Boca Raton a two-goal lead.

And with that, all the talk about this year’s senior class not having won anything before is over.

Boca finished the season with 107 goals and 25 shutouts.

Bobcats senior goalkeeper Alejandro Pineda conceded just three goals all season.

“This season has been unbelievable,” Negrao said. “I’m really proud of my boys. We definitely couldn’t make it without any one of them.”

For Boone (16-4-2), meanwhile, Saturday night marked the program’s first appearance in a state championship game since 1980.

Boca Raton coach Marcelo Castillo believes his team should be ranked among the best … and not just in the state.

“In my opinion, we have to be one of the top — if not the best — teams in the country,” Castillo said. “This team has just bought into the defensive work and the defensive attitude you need to win championships.

“Offensively, we’re very talented, but I got them to buy into the fact that if we just worked and really out-thought the other teams, we would go far.”