St. Thomas Aquinas boys reach state finals

MIAMI — Up by a goal going into the fourth quarter, it appeared the St. Thomas Aquinas boys water polo team were in for a fight.

Instead, the Raiders delivered the knockout blow.

Aquinas scored seven goals in the final frame in a 14-8 win over Orlando Lake Nona on Friday in the semifinals of the state water polo tournament at Ransom Everglades.

Aquinas (25-1) will face Miami Belen Jesuit at 4 p.m. for the state title. Should Aquinas win, it would be the second state title in program history with the first coming in 2013.

“We had to change the tactics because we got into foul trouble,” said Raiders coach Michael Goldenberg. “Luckily for us we were able to get stops because of that and we were able to convert on those opportunities. We had a few crucial stops and we were able to put it away. Then when they had opportunities, we were able to stop them.”

The Raiders’ victory brought an end to what was an otherwise a challenging day for the area’s water polo teams.

Both the St. Andrew’s boys and girls teams reached the semifinals only to lose.

The St. Andrew’s boys (23-7) fended off Belen for a half before succumbing in a 9-4 loss.

The St. Andrew’s girls (20-4) fell 7-3 to Ransom Everglades which will face Lake Nona at 2 p.m. in the state title game.

“If you ask me, I was in it to win it,” said Scots coach Kurt Predmore. “That’s what we set as our goal. I could not be prouder of the girls and boys and the way they competed.”

For both St. Andrew’s teams, reaching the semifinals meant getting be- yond Cypress Bay.

The St. Andrew’s boys were tested in a 18-6 win in the quarterfinals.

Hours later, the St. Andrew’s girls made it a perfect sweep with a 17-5 win over Cypress Bay, which finishes the season at 9-6.

If not for Aquinas, the first day of the state tournament would have been fruitless for Broward County teams.

The Pembroke Pines Charter (11-5) girls were the first Broward team to exit after it lost 14-2 to Orlando Olympia.

Olympia scored12 unanswered goals until Pines Charter’s Jessica Cordero scored with 2:24 left in the third quarter. Pines Charter’s second goal came from Melissa Gonzalez with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter.

Seven of the eight state boys and girls quarterfinal games were decided by 10 or more goals.