Boys Varsity Soccer Advance to Districts and Celebrate Senior Day

January 24, 2024

The seniors on the boys varsity soccer team pose for a photo. They celebrated senior day at their last game. They each received a plaque and celebrated with their families.

To end the Boys Varsity Soccer Regular Season, the Raiders celebrated senior day and tied in their home game against Downtown Doral last Friday.

The Raiders held a senior day celebration for the 17 seniors on the Varsity team. The players were presented with a plaque from Head Coach Scott Davidson. Both the team and parents surrounded the team while they each received their gifts.

“Senior day was good and it felt nice to finally have our day with the same guys I’ve spent my whole life playing with,”senior and Winger Marco Mendoza said. Although the result was sad I’m happy we’ve been able to have a memorable season and we will continue to succeed.”

Many of the players have been on the team most of their high school career and played with the same group of students. As the team splits up and heads to college many of the players will continue playing soccer.

Senior and Center Midfielder Rodrigo Navarro has played on the varsity team since sophomore year. Although Navarro is not going D1 he plans to play club soccer at Northeastern University.

Senior Daniel Ortiz gives Junior Jorge Gouvea his captain armband. The Senior captains announced for next year at the game. Three Juniors were chosen as captains. (Alex Beker)

“Personally I had a very long, successful, and fun highschool soccer career. I have been playing on varsity since 10th grade and I have learned a lot from my coaches and teammates,” Navarro said. “It feels great to be a senior. The regular season has been a lot of fun and we have had great success.”

After senior day the team played against Downtown Doral for their last regular season game. They ended the game in a 1-1 tie with a goal scored by Junior Taro Ochi. Ochi was assisted by Sophomore Jacob Lombard, who dribbled down the line and put in a cross that Ochi finished. The Raiders also scored two more goals however they were disallowed due to them being offside.

“Even though we had an undefeated regular season, we had our first tie of the year yesterday and we weren’t happy with the result, as we felt like we deserved more. Regardless, I’m proud of what we’ve managed to achieve and we know that we can’t slow down now,” senior and Center Back Joaquin Beker Flah.

The game also celebrated and announced the captains for next year. Senior captains, Cosme Salas, Daniel Ortiz, Beker Flah, and Navarro presented the new captains with their armbands. Juniors Nicolas Piñeros, Taro Ochi, and Jorge Gouvea were selected as captains.

Although the Raiders finished off the regular season in a tie, they will advance to the District Semi Finals. The game will be on Friday on the home field.