Doral stuns Cypress Bay in OT to advance to state final four
The end of a special run stared at Doral Academy in the final minutes of regulation in the Region 4-7A boys’ soccer championship Wednesday and hung in the air with one more desperate long passing attempt.
Doral spent the entire second half trying to scratch out a game-tying goal and suddenly Yitzhak Calatrava saw it developing on one of the last touches of regulation. A long pass took an extra bounce and just barely hopped over the outstretched arms of Cypress Bay’s goaltender. Suddenly, Calatrava stood against an empty net to tap in a last-minute equalizer.
“It was a really lucky goal,” the senior said, “but thankfully it happened.”
Eight minutes into extra time, Calatrava scored again and the Firebirds completed a stunning come-from-behind victory in Doral. The Firebirds rallied to beat the Lightning, 3-1, at home and are headed back to the final four for the fourth straight season. Doral will next face Boca Raton in a 7A state semifinal on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.
The Firebirds, who lost in the Class 7A semifinals last year, are two wins away from a third state title in four years.
“Cypress Bay were a much better team in the first half and I told my guys that,” Doral coach Pam McDonald said. “I said, ‘Whatever’s going to win this game is going to come from hard fight and determination.’ ”
The Firebirds (15-2-2) did almost nothing for the entire first half, fell behind 1-0 right before halftime, and then took nearly the entire second to finally score and get the game to extra time.
The challenge wasn’t any sort of surprise to Doral. Cypress Bay’s five state championships are tied for the fourth most among South Florida programs and an uncharacteristic first-round exit last year helped inspire the Lightning (16-4) to get back to the region championship this season.
For more than 40 minutes, Cypress Bay dominated, holding Doral without a shot on goal in the first half and finally going up 1-0 in the 40th minute on a perfectly executed set piece as Lightning senior Michele Di Miele, from 45 yards away, lofted a long cross into the box for Cypress Bay senior Rafael Piazzi, who headed home the go-ahead goal.
The first-half score nearly held up for the Lightning. The Firebirds didn’t put their first shot on goal until the 45th minute and didn’t start to consistently threaten until the final 20 minutes or so.
They were nearly too late. They were actually right on time.
“At first, we went in and felt like scared,” Calatrava said. “In the second half, we lost that and did better.”
Region 4-6A final — South Broward 2, Miami Beach 0 (OT): Despite dominating most of the game, creating numerous scoring chances and bouncing a pair of shots off the left post, the Bulldogs, with a berth in the state final four on the line and eight minutes away from going to penalty kicks, still found themselves locked in a scoreless battle.
That’s when senior midfielder Dominik Tianich broke free down the right hand side and, thanks to a perfect crossing pass from fellow senior midfielder Joseph Suarez, fired one into the bottom right corner of the net for what was ultimately the game-winning goal.
South Broward (18-1-3) advances to next week’s state final four at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand
where, as the No. 2 seed, the Bulldogs will square off against Valrico Bloomingdale in a 6A state semifinal contest on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
South Broward players sprinted toward the middle of the field in mass celebration when the final whistle blew as they punched their ticket to the state final four for the second time in program history, the first coming in 2020.
“We’ve been having trouble finishing all season long, so tonight wasn’t something these kids haven’t been dealing with all year,” South Broward coach Lionel Brown said. “It was a matter of just staying with it and keep pounding away at the net before it eventually paid off.”
On Tianich’s gamewinner, Brown said they had spotted something in the film room during the week.
“We watched their film together as a group, broke it down and our goal came off of something that I recognized in their
[Beach] style of play,” Brown said. “When they attack, they throw numbers back so they’re limited in transition. I told my two outside backs including Dom, once we transition and we win, just go, go, go. So Dom knows we’re always going to overload their wide area, the ball swings in, he’s there — goal.”
Pressing all players forward in an effort to get the equalizer, the Hi-Tides left themselves vulnerable on defense and Suarez was able to break away for a one-on-one and scored a game-sealing goal with less than a minute left.
Region 4-5A final — Pines Charter 1, Reagan 0: Senior Nicolas Diaz picked the right time to score his first goal of the season for Pembroke
Pines Charter.
Off a corner kick, Diaz headed a ball in the 60th minute to give the No. 2-seeded Jaguars a victory over No. 8-seeded Reagan Bison on Wednesday night. As a result, Pines Charter is headed to states for the first time since 2020, when it was one goal away from a state championship.
The Jaguars will face
No. 1 Panama City Beach Arnold — which won its region with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday over Pensacola Booker T. Washington — Tuesday at 7 p.m.
However, the game’s lone goal wasn’t without controversy. A Bison defender kicked Diaz’s header away before it reached the net, and Diaz was worried it didn’t cross the line.
“The ref signaled the goal, and I just lost all composure,” Diaz said. “I’ve been on the team since freshman year, so I have about six of my buddies here. We have 14 seniors this year. We’ve been working hard for four years to make [states] because our eighth grade year the team made it.”
However, Reagan coach Munga Eketebi, who had a video replay of the goal postgame, disagreed that the ball crossed the line.
“I honestly feel robbed,” he said. “But it is what it is. We didn’t score any goals, so this one is on us.”
The Bison (7-6-2) looked to continue their Cinderella story against Pines Charter (13-3-1) after upset wins over No. 1 American Heritage, the reigning 5A state champions, and No. 4
Belen Jesuit. But after a slow start to the game, Reagan seemed overmatched.
The Jaguars handily won the possession battle and outshot the Bison 10-4. Before Diaz’s goal, Pines had several opportunities to score, including a breakaway chance in the first half that was thwarted by Reagan goalkeeper Enrique Garcia Salazar, who had to come out of the net and hit the ball out of bounds.