Boca High boys, girls split games at Class 7A state soccer finals

Boca Raton High School boys’ soccer coach Marcelo Castillo said the school’s fifth boys’ state soccer championship didn’t come without a lot of work behind the scenes.

“Going into tryouts,” Castillo said, “these kids had such a bad taste in their mouths of the way the season ended last year that they had a chip on their shoulder, and they weren’t going to be happy unless they came home with a state championship.

“I told them it probably wasn’t going to happen without a lot of work and if that was what they wanted to happen, that’s what our goal was going to be,” he said.

The Bobcats (24-0-2) finished undefeated for a second time in four years as it defeated Winter Gardens West Orange 2-1 for the Class 7A boys’ state soccer championship at the Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

“Sure enough, they bought into everything we did all year, including so many defensive practices that we ran that I haven’t done in my 19 years there,” Castillo said. “I didn’t run them in the past because we had so much offense and we only allowed 10 goals in 30 games, which was pretty amazing.”

The Bobcats outscored its opponents 97-10 nearly matching the 2020 state championship season where it finished 28-0 and outscored the opposition 107-3.

Boca Raton junior goalkeeper Carmine Ricciardi was stellar in goal with 15 saves, including four acrobatic ones in the closing minutes to hold off a frenetic charge by the Warriors, who are now 0-3 in state title games since 2013. They lost to Cypress Bay in 2013 and 2015.

“Keepers are sometimes the unsung heroes,” Castillo said. “They are sometimes the scapegoats. Today he kept us in the game…he kept us alive, and he is the main reason today that we are able to put star number five on our uniforms next year.”

Castillo said he believed his team could have won last year’s state title, but had to face Viera in the state semifinals with six players suspended from an altercation following the regional final against Celebration.

Senior midfielder Bryan Silva gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead when he headed the ball past the West Orange goalkeeper off a free kick from senior Christian Gonzalez.

Five minutes later, the Bobcats, ranked 17th in the country and sixth in Class 7A by MaxPreps, doubled the lead to 2-0 on a goal by sophomore Cesar Patrullo off a rebound on a shot from distance by Gonzalez.

West Orange (14-5-1) pushed hard in the second half and pulled to within 2-1 in the 74th minute after a long free kick into the box and Finlay Prain finally beat Ricciardi with a header from in close.

It appeared the Warriors had tied the match two minutes later, however, the referees ruled the ball had not crossed the goal line.

“It was very chaotic,” Ricciardi said. “There were a lot of people in the box. I thought I got fouled on that and it didn’t go in. Obviously…that’s what counts. It was definitely a deep breath and we regrouped to make sure nothing like that happens again for the rest of the game. The atmosphere was out of this world.”

Ricciardi made two more stops after that and the Bobcats held on for the victory. Boca Raton survived the semifinal winning 4-3 (5-4 PKs) over Windermere in a wild game.

The Bobcats saw a 2-0 lead on goals by Bryan Silva in the 13th minute and a goal by Martin Arredondo evaporate in the second half and Boca Raton went down two players because of blue cards, and played the last 10 minutes of regulation and both overtimes (20 minutes) two players down.

Windermere (16-2-1) then took a 3-2 lead in the first overtime on a goal by Enzo Valiante before the Bobcats tied the game early in the second overtime on a penalty kick goal by Rafael Azevedo after the referees said a defender illegally touched the ball after Windermere goalkeeper Allan Gesualdo had set the ball for a goal kick.

Heartbreak again for Boca Raton girls in state final

St. John’s Creekside freshman Sarah Weisberg curved in a left-footed corner kick in the 48th minute to hand Boca Raton a 2-1 defeat in the Class 7A girls’ state final.

The loss marked the fifth straight runner-up finish for Boca Raton (18-3-2) who is still chasing their first girls’ state championship. The Bobcats also lost last year’s state final to Bartram Trail.

Boca Raton coach Rachael Grimes said the defeat was difficult, especially for the 13 graduating seniors, including seven starters. The Bobcats were also runner-up in 1991, 2010, 2017 and 2023.

“It’s been an incredible two-year run for them,” Grimes said. “Last year, we were just happy to be here and excited after an unexpected season, and this year I thought it was our year. We’re bummed. We are pretty proud of getting to the state championship game two years in a row.”

Boca Raton seized a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on senior Sarah Coelho’s 22nd goal of the year. Senior forward Marino Klemetsmo served a ball toward the goal that senior midfielder Olivia Martinez flicked on with her head toward Coelho, who beat the onrushing Knights’ sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Smith one-on-one and found the open net.

In the 21st minute, Creekside, the nation’s fourth-ranked team, tied the contest at 1-1 as midfielder Avery Robinson found forward Chloe Iliff, who started left and cut back and sent a shot from 18 yards out over Boca Raton senior goalkeeper Kelly White’s head.

“It’s really pretty unbelievable,” Grimes said. “It is very rewarding to see where the girls were last year and where they are now. We are still disappointed that we couldn’t finish it.”