The FHSSA rankings saw Doral Academy open the week on top of the rankings at 15-0-0 and that continued this week, moving up to 16 straight wins following a 5-2 win over LaSalle (2-3-7) on Thursday. With a national ranking of fourth on MaxPreps the Firebirds are threatening to push on and make a push for national honors.
Florida’s other undefeated 6A team, Niceville, slipped up on Friday night dropping points for only the second time in the season and keeping Doral at top spot on the rankings. After taking a 3-1 lead the second half was much worse for the Eagles giving up three goals but luckily scoring one to take a 4-4 draw in an entertaining match.
The leaders in 5A, Naples, managed a dramatic 3-2 win over Lely thanks to a stellar performance from senior Luis Baldivieso who scored a hat-trick. Such was Baldivieso’s dominant performance that the Trojans were often forced to fouling to stop the advance, which led to 18 fouls against the hosts on Friday night.
Wiregrass Ranch, out of Wesley Chapel, dominated their match on Wednesday as the Bulls went on parade and ran out 4-0 winners. Junior Justin Amis was dangerous throughout the match, managing four shots on target and finally getting the reward for his hard work, scoring the fourth goal. The star of the match was Alessandro Guzman who only needed 20 minutes to score his goal, getting things started as part of an impressive performance for the Bulls.
Tampa’s Jesuit rounded out the state top five but could well find themselves falling out of it next week following a 3-2 loss to Monteverde Academy on Tuesday night. That loss was the Tiger’s third loss of the season and now leaves them in a threat of dropping out of the top spot in Tampa Bay.
Newsome leads the 7A class but may find that spot under threat shortly following a frustrating match on Tuesday night. The Wolves were held at home by King thanks largely to a stellar goalkeeping display from Freshman Aitor Castellanos-Neri who managed 10 saves for his fifth straight clean-sheet.
Reagan, a second side from Doral in the state top 10 managed a comfortable 2-0 win over Coral Gables on Friday night. Goals from the Amado twins, Mateo and Daniel proved the difference with a strong performance from Sebastian Salgado vital in getting the Bison the win.
Boca Raton had the biggest win of the state top 10 on Friday night, cruising to a 7-1 win over West Boca Raton moving up to 20-0-0. Tallahassee’s Maclay managed another impressive win on Saturday defeating Columbus 5-2 thanks to four second-half goals to come from behind. Junior Mateus Bitencourt starred for the Marauders managing a goal and two assists in the win.
Mandarin of Jacksonville rounded out the FHSAA top 10 but may not be there next week as a big second half saw Mandarin have to settle for a 2-2 draw. Senior Brandon Erdman was the main man for the Mustangs as he scored both goals as part of a man of the match performance.
Player of the Week: Aitor Castellanos-Neri (King)
Managing ten saves to keep a clean-sheet against a significantly higher ranked side, Castellanos-Neri manages the first Florida Soccer Report Boy’s High School Soccer report player of the week reward. Baldivieso is a little hard done by but Castellanos-Neri’s performance coming as the lower ranked side just pushed him above Baldivieso’s match winning performance.
Florida Soccer Report 