Both the boys and girls soccer teams clinched district championships on Feb. 2, with the boys beating out St. Brendan 2-1 and the girls defeating Mast Academy 1-0. Both games were played at St. Brendan, the school hosting the district tournament.

Both games were extremely tight, physical, and competitive. The boys game was met with an enthusiastic crowd of fans from both the competitors and other local schools. The gameplay was physical, with each team trading the ball back and forth. For a while, there was little in it, with the score remaining 0-0 for quite some time. Then, in the dying minutes, sophomore Tomas Sciarra played the ball to senior Brandon Alvarez, who cut back behind a defender and scored the first goal of the game. 

Shortly after, St. Brendan was awarded with a penalty kick, which was immediately converted. Nevertheless, senior Jack Epstein scored the winning goal during a thrilling double overtime showdown. The Raiders emerged victorious, with a final score of 2-1, and look forward to continuing their success in the regional tournament.

“As soon as I scored I wanted to go celebrate with the fans. It’s the fans that drive the team and we really love to have their support,” said Alvarez. “As a senior, I like to stay positive and I think we have a strong team. Everything has been culminating to the end of our season and I think we have a good shot of hopefully making it to the state final and bringing [the championship] home.”

The girls game picked up the momentum set by the boys team and was extremely physical, as possession frequently switched between the two teams, with both not being able to comfortably hold on to the ball throughout the game. The majority of the game was scoreless, despite both teams receiving ample chances to put the ball in the back of the net. 

This changed during the first half of an intense overtime period, after senior midfielder Catalina Garcia played a through ball down the middle into the box, where senior striker Ariana Hernando deftly evaded defenders and the goalkeeper to score the winning goal. Mast was unable to come back with such little time remaining, and the girls emerged victorious. 

“As a senior, it was an honor to win the district championship for the third year in a row,” said Hernando. “It put an amazing smile on my face when the final whistle was called. It’s a wonderful feeling that we get to be back in regionals and continue the season with the girls.”

In the regional semifinal, the girls defeated Jensen Beach at home with a final score of 2-1 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the boys faced the same team, who they defeated 2-0.