Doral Academy repeats as state champion in 6A

DELAND

Even though most of the names and faces changed from a year ago, the results were still the same.

The Doral Academy boys’ soccer team, nearly a year to the day since it won the program’s first state championship and despite returning only three starters, now have a second banner to hang.

After squandering a 2-0 first-half lead, the Firebirds maintained their poise through searing high-80s heat at Spec Martin Stadium and secured a 3-2 win over Viera in the Class 6A state championship thanks to Mateo Hincapie’s goal with 26 minutes left in regulation.

There was massive turnover for Doral coach Pam McDonald and her coaching staff to deal with this season. But when you’ve got a nationally prominent program on a roll the way McDonald does, it became more a matter of reloading than rebuilding.

“It’s the heart of these guys, they never say die,” said McDonald, who became the first female coach in state history a year ago to win a state title coaching a boys’ soccer team. “We have such a rotation and such a belief that we can overcome anything and today we did. We stayed calm after losing the lead which is never easy to do and that says a lot about the character of these players.”

After goals by Thiago Salmi and Mauricio Trejo in the game’s 10th and 24th minutes staked Doral to that 2-0 lead, the Hawks, (18-2-1) who were playing in their first state final, got the game turned back in their direction just before halftime. With just under two minutes left, Yorgen Torres knocked one past Doral keeper Sebastian Ballestas to slice the Firebird lead in half.

Viera then took that momentum and carried it into the second half. Just five minutes in, Doral defender Kaleb Jiron fouled Viera’s Max May in the box and May converted the penalty kick. Suddenly it was 2-2.

“Sometimes a 2-0 lead can be the worst thing that can happen to a team,” said Doral midfielder and team captain Sebastian Chahin, one of those three returning starters. “We maybe lost a little bit of our intensity and allowed them to get back in it.”

But Doral kept battling. All day long Hincapie had been getting the corner turned and around the defense at the baseline, creating shot opportunities.

With just over 26 minutes left, he got by the Viera defense again and found himself with a clean shot at the net and fired it into the top right corner past the diving keeper for what turned out to be the game-winner.