Pembroke Pines Charter boys lose heartbreaker in penalty kicks
DELAND
Somehow, they deserved better than they got.
The Pembroke Pines Charter boys soccer team went into Tuesday night’s Class 5A state semifinal against Panama City
Beach Arnold a prohibitive underdog.
After all, Arnold came into the game with a 201-1 record, No. 1 state ranking in 5A, No. 2 state ranking overall and No. 2 ranking nationally.
None of it mattered to the Jaguars, who stood toe-to-toe with Arnold all night long.
But in the end, after neither team could score after 100 minutes of soccer (80 regulation, 20 overtime), it came down to penalty kicks and it was Arnold goalkeeper Josh Chandler who outdueled Pines Charter keeper Ryan Romero.
Chandler made back-toback diving saves on PC’s the third and fourth attempts by Matthew Blackwood and Nicholas Prandini that proved to be the difference as the Marlins prevailed 4-2 on PKs, advancing to Friday night’s 5A title game where they will face Tampa Jesuit.
“You can’t help but be proud of the effort by our boys, I couldn’t have asked more from the them,” Pines Charter coach Marc Lue Young said. “They played their hearts out against a really good team but in the end, when it comes down to PKs, it can go either way and unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”
Perhaps the most dejected of all the Jaguar players, most who had to be picked up off the field by assistant coaches when it was over, was Pines Charter keeper Massimo Lopez-Malo.
Lopez-Malo was brilliant in front of the net all night long, matching Chandler with some impressive diving saves to keep the Marlins off the board. But when it came time for PKs, it was Romero who trotted on to the field.
“We’ve been in a situation in regionals where they’re both good at penalties but with Romero, we wanted to give him a chance because he’s very good at PKs with his club team,” Lue Young said. “It was one of those choices that we made as a coaching staff before the playoffs ever started and had been planning this for two-and-half weeks.”
But Romero was never able to stop any of Arnold’s four attempts and after Mateo Cortes and Gabriel Calderon converted Pines Charter’s first two shots, Chandler performed his heroics for the Marlins.
“It just hurts that I couldn’t do more,” LopezMalo said. “It’s always tough when you don’t feel like you get to decide your destiny but I trust Romy [Romero] with my life out there with those kicks. It just didn’t go our way.”
Lopez-Malo made numerous saves all night but two were of the spectacular variety, one in each half in which he stretched himself out sideways airborne to deflect two balls away that were definitely headed into the net. He also said he and his teammates, while respecting Arnold, were not impressed with all the hype surrounding them.
“Obviously, they came in with the high ranking and everything but we didn’t pay any attention to that,” Lopez-Malo said. “We knew we were capable of hanging with them and winning this game. Nobody believed in us all season long but here we were up at state competing for a championship. It’s a tough way for my high school career to end but I wouldn’t have wanted it to happen with a greater group of guys.”
Lue Young also indicated that the Jaguars did not enter the contest feeling like they were underdogs.
“To be honest, we actually came in here confident expecting to win tonight,” Lue Young said. “Arnold is a good team but they hadn’t really played a team like us all season, being from up in the panhandle. Us being from South Florida where there are so many good teams, we just felt we could run with them. We just didn’t want it to come down to penalties.”
Despite the tough loss, Lue Young said his players had no reason to hang their heads.
“You never apologize for making it to the final four but the farther you go, the harder the fall when it ends,” Lue Young said. “This team really gave their all to get back to this stage but came up short. This is one of those heartbreaks but it’s a part of soccer, a part of any sport. Hopefully we’ll get back here again next year.”