Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Patriots slide past Jaguars in semifinals
PLANTATION — For the second time in as many games, Landon Lupo saved American Heritage-Plantation’s boys soccer season.
With one minute remaining in the second overtime, the senior forward laced a right-footed blast past Pembroke Pines Charter School sophomore goalkeeper Alejandro Benitez to give the host Patriots a 2-1 victory in the Region 4-3A regional semifinal game on Saturday night.
“I just saw the keeper was out of position and I just hit it over him,” said Lupo, who has a teamleading 18 goals. He also scored the overtime winner against Mourning in the regional quarterfinal. “Honestly, this is the best feeling of my life.”
While Lupo is still looking at colleges, performances like the last two may help him get noticed.
“I missed the goal in the first overtime and I wanted another chance to win the game,” Lupo said. “I had to make up for it whether it was a pass, or an assist or a goal. I just wanted to do something to help the team win.”
American Heritage-Plantation will host the Cape Coral/ Immokalee winner in the regional final on Tuesday.
It was the fourth meeting between the schools this season with the Patriots (20-1-2) having shutout Pembroke Pines Charter (15-7-2) in the three previous outings.
It took the Jaguars 11 minutes to end that streak freshman Ashton Cooper scored for a 1-0 lead. American Heritage-Plantation tied the game in the 44th minute when senior Malcolm Tilokee centered the ball to an Shanyder Borgelin to knot the game at 1-1.
Both teams squandered chances in the overtime period with Lupo missing from 8 yards out in the third minute of the first time and Pembroke Pines Charter senior Rodrigo Souberville missing from 6 yards out with three minutes left in the first overtime.
“We did well considering we finished with 10 players,” said Pines Charter coach Alvin James, whose team played the last 10 minutes of regulation and the two overtimes a man down because of a second yellow card. “We should have ended the game five minutes ago.”
The two teams last met in the postseason in the regional semifinal in 2013 when American Heritage-Plantation won 3-0. It was the last time that Pembroke Pines reached the postseason. They met the year before that in the same game and the Patriots won 4-3 in PKs. American HeritagePlantation went on to win the state championship that year.
“Landon is one of the most resilient players I have seen in a long time,” said Patriots coach Todd Goodman, whose school has won five state titles — the last in 2012. “Landon always seems to find a way to get it done.”