Energy was high at the boys varsity soccer Regional Final game on Wednesday as the Raiders faced off against Cardinal Gibbons at Tropical Park. Junior MidFielder Cosme Salas scored a hat-trick to win the game, leading the team to the State Semi-Final. 

“We promised our old seniors last year after losing in the Regional Semi-Final that we’d bring a championship home next year,” Junior Forward Tomas Sciarra said.

The score remained 0-0 for the entire first half, until 15 minutes into the second half when Salas scored the opener and two other goals in a span of 7 minutes. The final score of the game was 3-0 which was a big turnaround from last year when they lost to Cardinal Gibbons in the playoffs.

“The game was super tight until our offense got going, we couldn’t be stopped in the second half,” Junior Goalkeeper Theo Stavrinides said.

The Raiders attributed their win against Cardinal Gibbons due to an extensive scouting report from player information, team formation, set pieces, and in-game film. The team held five consecutive practices to prepare and help deliver the win on game day.

Heading into States, coaches and players on the boys varsity soccer team believe that effort and teamwork are the cornerstone to success. Finishing the regular season with a 14-4-2 record, the players know that the road to a Regional championship was not easy, but acknowledge there is a lot more to come.

“This is the 2nd year with the team since there were very few seniors to replace so the chemistry is already there,” Assistant Coach Federico Mor said, “we are much more experienced and more in tune with one another, and we’ve been in this situation before so the team will go into the semi-final game cool, calm, and collected.”

The squad will face Yulee High School tomorrow for the State Semi-Final game at Belen. The boys varsity soccer team hopes to come back from President’s day break with an 8th star under their belt.