Mandarin edges Englewood in penalties in Gateway Conference boys soccer championship

Zack Kertesz stepped to the penalty spot with one target on his mind.

"A lot of thoughts go through your head but you've just got to stay focused," he said. "I picked my spot and it came true."

Still unbeaten. Still the soccer kings of Duval.

Kertesz smashed the deciding penalty to win a penalty shootout 4-3 after regulation and overtime finished 1-1, leading Mandarin past a dogged Englewood squad to win Friday night's Gateway Conference high school boys soccer championship.

Mandarin secured an elusive three-peat in the Duval County public school tournament, just as they did a decade ago, on a Gateway epic in which Englewood pressed them to the end — a game that ran so long that the Losco Regional Park lights shut off during the trophy presentation.

But the Mustangs' winning streak, and their three-year Gateway title streak, is still burning bright.

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ENGLEWOOD PROVIDES A SCARE

Before Wednesday's semifinal against Stanton, Englewood was the only Duval County public school to remain within three goals of Mandarin (14-0-1), which is ranked third in Florida's statewide MaxPreps rankings.

The Rams (10-5) proved tough again, testing Mandarin on the counterattack throughout the opening half with the explosive one-on-one dribbling of Zion Wise in tandem with the positioning and technique of Jasmin Ljeskovica.

Particularly in the first half, the Rams looked like a scoring threat every time Wise took possession. Englewood exploited a set play for the opening goal, jumping in front when Edwin Cardona-Cardoza finished off a header before the break.

Englewood held on to the lead tenaciously through heavy Mandarin pressure, commanded at the back by center backs Ngun Hu and Fabriany Restrepo-Chilito, for more than 100 minutes of action. And they nearly won it in overtime when Wise hit the post with a long-distance drive, further evidence that the Rams, currently on course for an at-large playoff berth in Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-5A, are a team to watch into February.

"They've got some fantastic players, and they're fully committed in the tackle," Mandarin coach Jason Cooley said.

MORE MANCINOTTI MAGIC

For the third consecutive Gateway Conference final, Antonio Mancinotti came up big for the Mustangs.

Mandarin piled on pressure over and over through the second half, but it wasn't until the 62nd minute when Mancinotti — scorer of 30 goals in his junior campaign — ended the Mustangs' frustration.

Senior midfielder Adis Mesic, an inventive dribbler throughout the evening, rounded the Englewood defense from the left, and Mancinotti finished off crisply at the far post in the combination that's carried the Mustangs all year in spite of injury woes. The two have combined for 43 goals this year, 24 for Mancinotti and 19 for Mesic.

Gateway goals are a habit for Mancinotti: He also scored fewer than 20 seconds into the 2020-21 final and notched the game-winner as well against Stanton last year.

"You have to keep on fighting," he said. "Even when we were down, we didn't keep our heads down, we kept on fighting and that's how we scored our goal."

THRILLER TESTS MUSTANGS

Through a season of victories by scores like 6-1, 6-0 and 8-0 — only Bartram Trail has avoided defeat against Mandarin — the Mustangs haven't been tested often. That changed Friday.

"To be able to win this kind of a battle, it's the best," Cooley said.

After a Mandarin bombardment in the late minutes missed the target, and Englewood's last counter ended in a wide shot from close range, the Mustangs' resolve held up as the Gateway final went to penalties for the second time in five years.

Goalkeeper Brayden Knox saved a penalty by Englewood's Matthew Alexander for an early 2-0 shootout lead, and even though Hu, Jasson Soriano and Fredy Escobar-Lopez converted to keep Englewood alive, Mandarin sealed it when Kertesz scored his game-winner.

They survived the long night. They enjoyed a trophy ceremony by cell phone flashlight. Now, the Mustangs are turning their eyes with confidence to the coming challenge in next month's regional tournament.

"Our team goes by [the idea that] pressure makes diamonds," Mancinotti said. "When it came to penalties, it came up diamonds, straight diamonds."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school boys soccer: Mandarin-Englewood, Gateway Conference final 2023