PREP ROUNDUP: Lakewood Ranch boys need penalty kicks to advance
LAKEWOOD RANCH — Joah McManis did not face much activity when the clock was running on a crisp Wednesday night.
However, not long thereafter the Lakewood Ranch High goaltender was in the line of fire.
McManis made a key save on Orland Olympia's second penalty kick, and all five Mustang shooters converted their shots from the dot, as the Lakewood Ranch High boys soccer team won 5-3 on penalty kicks to survive its Class 7A-Region 2 quarterfinal match.
Lakewood Ranch (17-1-1) shot first and led 2-1 in PKs when the Titans’ Miguel Amador stepped to the dot.
“He lined up to a certain side to aggravate one, so you’ve got to go the other,” McManis said. “It worked out for us.”
McManis dived to his left and made the save before motioning to the fans who braved the cool temperatures.
“I don’t know if I've had a better adrenaline moment in my life,” the 5-foot-10 senior said. “I dove and saw the ball come my way. I just had to make sure I saved it first. Then I tried to get the crowd going and give the boys some momentum.”
The Mustangs made their final three penalty kicks to ice it.
“We knew Josh would save at least one,” Mustangs coach Vito Bavaro said.
Top-seeded Lakewood Ranch will host Riverview High in a 7A-Region 2 semifinal match at 7 p.m. Saturday. The fifth-seeded Rams went on the road and defeated fourth-seeded Celebration, 2-1.
Lakewood Ranch takeaways
• McManis made just one save during regulation and two in the 10-minute overtime periods, however, he was ready for the spotlight. “It looks like I’m bored back there, but you’ve got to talk a lot to your guys,” he said.
• McManis does not have a strategy entering penalty kicks. Instead, he lets the shooters decide his next move. “It’s up to them," McManis said. "Sometimes they line up to a side. They’ll give a last-minute look, I guess to try to put the move on you. It’s all a mind game.”
• Lakewood Ranch is ranked 12th nationally, eighth in Florida and third in Class 7A by MaxPreps and ninth in the FHSAA RPI power rankings. The Mustangs put 18 of their 22 shots on net but failed to score in regulation and overtime play. However, all five kickers scored in penalty kicks: Johnathan Klein, Diego Freyre, Felipe Desouza, Christian Hernandez and Clark. “We outplayed them,” Bavaro said. “They did their job. They held us to zeroes. We were all over them; we just couldn’t put it in the net.”
Olympia takeaways
• The Titans tried to do everything they could to avoid attacking 6-foot-3 sweeper Drew Clark. They were not always successful. Animated Olympia coach Lou Romao was constantly reminding his players to shoot for the flags at the corner of the end lines. His cries often went on deaf ears.
• Ranked 110th in the state, 34th in 7A and 117th in the FHSAA RPI power rankings, Olympia (11-8-3) did not know it qualified for the regionals until school ended Friday. The Titans lost the district title to Celebration, 3-2, in overtime.
• As the match went on, it became more and more obvious Olympia was looking to get to penalty kicks. When the match went to PKs, the Titans changed goalies. Senior Juan Barbosa replaced senior Logan Finley, who made 18 saves during regulation and overtime to keep his team alive.
CLASS 7A-REGION 2
Riverview 2, Celebration 1 OT
GOALS: R, Ryan Sims, Luke Spycher.
GOALIES: R, Israel Valle (2 saves), Josh Wisman (2 saves), Luka Stefenoni (2 saves)
CLASS 6A-REGION 3
Sunlake 3, Palmetto 1
PALMETTO — Mick Stauffer took advantage of a pair of controversial penalty kicks in the first half that brought the curtain down on Palmetto High’s boys soccer season.
The senior striker and team captain lifted Sunlake High of Land O’ Lakes to a 3-1 victory over the Tigers (10-4-3) in a Class 6A-Region 3 quarterfinal match at Harllee Stadium.
“Tonight was a difficult night for us,” veteran Palmetto coach Rui Fernandes said. “Not playing-wise, because I thought we had a pretty good game plan. The outside factors were what they were.
“It’s too bad because these are two evenly-matched teams. Unfortunately, we get a couple of penalties. It is what it is.”
Palmetto sophomore Christopher Hehn tied the game at 1-1 with a kick with 14 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the first half.
Stauffer would connect again in a one-on-one situation four minutes later to give the Seahawks (20-3-1) the lead for good. Sunlake’s Joaquin Arevalo added another goal midway through the second half to provide the final score.
Palmetto takeaways
• Palmetto won its fifth straight district championship this season despite losing 12 seniors from last season’s team. The Tigers had just one senior (Ashton Henson) on this year’s team. “I am proud of the group,” Fernandes said. “Nobody gave them a chance to be in this position. They believed and had grit.”
• It was the first game back for junior goalkeeper Andre Etcheverry after missing eight weeks with a hip injury. Etcheverry, who is also a team captain, recorded four blocks against the Seahawks. “He played a great game,” Fernandes said.
• The Tigers were not awarded a corner kick until 6:27 remained in the match. Then, they took four of them in a span of 90 seconds. The Seahawks had just one corner kick the entire match.
— Jim Brockman, correspondent
CLASS 2A-REGION 3
Bradenton Christian 2,
Ave Maria Donahue 1
AVE MARIA — The Bradenton Christian Panthers know the road to a region championship will likely go through two old foes — Fort Myers Canterbury, which has knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs three years in a row, and Saint Stephen's, which beat the Panthers in last week's district championship.
The Panthers earned their shot at the first of those teams with a come-from-behind victory over the Donahue Academy Shamrocks at Gyrene Field on the Ave Maria University campus in a Class 2A-Region 3 quarterfinal match.
Bradenton Christian head coach Patrick Cunneen applauded his team's resilience, stating that mentality is exactly what the Panthers will need to exorcise their demons.
"To fight back in the second half is part of the process to get to Canterbury," Bradenton Christian coach Patrick Cunneen said. "We know, for us, it's Canterbury first, Saint Stephen's next. We're calling it the revenge tour, but we're just trying to get to each game."
The underdog Shamrocks struck first in the 17th minute when Aidan Minter chipped a pass from Michael Fleitas-Vera moments before the BCS goalkeeper could get his hands on it. That lead would last until the 53rd minute when Ashton Lucas scored on a scramble.
Bradenton Christian's game-winner was provided in the 76th minute, as Hunter Smith, the team's leading scorer, beat goalkeeper Vance Aubert, who had previously made several stellar saves to keep the Shamrocks in it.
Lucas, one of the team's captains, said it would become part of BCS soccer lore if the Panthers could beat Canterbury on Saturday in a Class 2A-Region 3 semifinal.
"We lost our freshman year, 6-0; our sophomore year it was 5-0; and last year we lost in extra time, 2-1," Lucas said. "We have the heart. We want to be remembered as the team that beat Canterbury."
— Ryan Murphy, correspondent
Boys soccer region results
CLASS 7A-REGION 2
Lakewood Ranch 0, Orlando Olympia 0 (Mustangs win on penalty kicks, 5-3)
Riverview 2, Celebration 1
CLASS 6A-REGION 3
Land O’ Lakes Sunlake 3, Palmetto 1
Wesley Chapel Wiregrass Ranch 3, Manatee 0
CLASS 5A-REGION 3
Cape Coral Mariner 2, Southeast 0
CLASS 4A-REGION 3
Tampa Robinson 3, Lemon Bay 2
CLASS 2A-REGION 3
Saint Stephen’s 4, St. Petersburg Admiral Farragut 0
Bradenton Christian 2, Ave Maria Donahue Academy 1
Boys soccer region semifinals
Saturday, 7 p.m.
CLASS 7A-REGION 2
Riverview (5) at Lakewood Ranch (1)
CLASS 2A-REGION 3
Bradenton Christian (5) at Fort Myers Canterbury (1)
Monday, 6 p.m.
St. Petersburg Shorecrest Prep (3) at Saint Stephen’s (2)
BOYS DISTRICT BASKETBALL
CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 8
Venice 57, Naples Gulf Coast 54
TOP PLAYERS: V, Jayshon Platt (19 points), Isaiah Levine (16 points), Austin Bray (7 points), Myles Weston (8 points).
OF NOTE: Levine hit a 3-pointer to put Venice ahead for good with 40 seconds to play.
CLASS 4A DISTRICT 12
Port Charlotte 57, DeSoto County 45
TOP PLAYERS: PC, Alex Perry (14 points), Geoff Wisniewski (12 points), Bode Stewart (11 points).
OF NOTE: Port Charlotte outscored DeSoto County 18-2 to begin the game.
CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 11
Charlotte 77, Fort Myers Dunbar 36
GAME AT: Charlotte High, Punta Gorda.
TOP PLAYERS: C, John Gamble (17 points, 7 rebounds), DJ Woods (17 points, 2 steals), Logan Clauser (14 points, 5 rebounds), Chris Cornish (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks).
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 7
Cardinal Mooney Catholic 80,
Imagine School at North Port 41
TOP PLAYERS, CM, Dylan Higgins (24 points), Drew Carter (14 points), Conner Heald (11 points).
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11
Bradenton Christian 81,
St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 45
TOP PLAYERS: BC, Aaron Clark (22 points, 6 3-pointers) , Ashton Desrocher (16 points, 5 3-pointers), Ty Townsend (11 points), Carson Weaver (8 points), Landon Dempsey (8 points).
RECORD: Bradenton Christian (21-5).
St. Petersburg Canterbury School 69, Sarasota Christian 53
TOP PLAYERS: SC, Adam Bassil (14 points), Ben Papineau (12 points), Drew Yoder (11 points), Nick Webb (9 points), Brian Hershberger (8 points).
RECORDS: St. Petersburg Canterbury (16-10); Sarasota Christian 53 (18-9).
District tournament results
CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 7
Feb. 8
Plant City Durant 64, Tampa Riverview 51
Feb. 9
Lithia Newsome 53, Durant 44
Plant City 62, Lakewood Ranch 44
Feb. 11
Championship game Plant City (2) at Newsome (1)
CLASS 7A-DISTRICT 8
Feb. 8
North Port 61, Lehigh Acres Lehigh Senior 60
Venice 62, Sarasota 56
Feb. 9
Riverview 69, North Port 37
Venice 57, Naples Gulf Coast 54
Feb. 11
Championship game Venice (3) at Riverview (1)
CLASS 6A-DISTRICT 11
Feb. 8
Manatee 60, Gibsonton East Bay 43
Riverview Sumner 70, Braden River 51
Tampa Bloomingdale 50, Ruskin Lennard 33
Feb. 9
Manatee 71, Palmetto 66
Bloomingdale 57, Sumner 46
Feb. 11
Championship game Manatee (4) at Bloomingdale (3)
CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 10
Feb. 8
Bayshore 65, St. Petersburg Northeast 64
Gulfport Boca Ciega 68, Spoto 59
Feb. 9
Southeast 65, Bayshore 55
St. Petersburg 84, Boca Ciega 55
Feb. 11
Championship game St. Petersburg (2) at Southeast (1)
CLASS 5A-DISTRICT 11
Feb. 8
Fort Myers Dunbar 69, Cape Coral 63
Cape Coral Ida Baker 72, Cape Coral Island Coast 37
Feb. 9
Charlotte 77, Dunbar 36
Cape Coral Mariner 69, Ida Baker 63
Feb. 11
Championship game Mariner (2) at Charlotte (1)
CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 11
Feb. 8
St. Petersburg Lakewood 69, Booker 60
Sebring 92, Wauchula Hardee County 17
Feb. 9
St. Petersburg Gibbs 55, Lakewood 46
Parrish Community 76, Sebring 58
Feb. 11
Championship game Parrish Community (2) at Gibbs (1)
CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 12
Feb. 7
DeSoto County 85, LaBelle 71
Bonita Springs 50, Lemon Bay 47
Feb. 9
Port Charlotte 57, DeSoto 45
Clewiston 53, Bonita Springs 43
Feb. 11
Championship game Clewiston (2) at Port Charlotte (1)
CLASS 3A-DISTRICT 7
Feb. 8
Imagine School at North Port 71, Sarasota Military Academy 54
Feb. 9
Cardinal Mooney 80, Imagine School at North Port 41
Saint Stephen’s 46, Out-of-Door Academy 44
Feb. 11
Championship game Saint Stephen’s (2) at Cardinal Mooney (1)
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 11
Feb. 8
St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 81, Gulf Coast HEAT 68
St. Petersburg Canterbury 79, Port Charlotte Community Christian 33
Sarasota Christian 69, Largo Indian Rocks Christian 36
Feb. 9
(at Bradenton Christian)
Bradenton Christian 81, St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 45
Canterbury 69, Sarasota Christian 53
Feb. 11
Championship game Canterbury (2) at Bradenton Christian (1)
BOYS TENNIS
Out-of-Door 7, Southeast 0
SINGLES — Cash Murphy def. Eli Heskin 8-0; Max Murphy def. Aiden Letourneau 8-4; Thomas Vicente def. Gautham Garre 8-3; Sebastian Sanandres def. Gabriel Tirabelle 8-0; Thomas Pennie def. Jaiden Lee 8-1.
DOUBLES — Murphy/Murphy def. Heskin/Letourneau 8-2; Vicente/Sanandres def. Garre/Tirabell 9-7.
Lemon Bay 7, Port Charlotte 0
SINGLES — Stevie Ethier def. Nathan Reid 6-0, 6-0; Hunter Andres def. Nicholas Nease 6-0, 6-1; Gray Lowder def. Colin Larkin 6-1, 6-2; #4- Billy Rand def. Jacob Howe 6-0, 6-0; Caleb Hutcherson d. Avery Gauthier 6-0, 6-1.
DOUBLES — Ethier/Andres def. Reid/Nease 8-1; Lowder/Rand def. Larkin/Howe.
RECORD — Lemon Bay (1-0).
GIRLS TENNIS
ODA 7, Southeast 0
SINGLES — Sophie Bose def. Melanie Minarya 8-5; Alicia Vieira def. Emily Steiner 8-0; Charley Hunn def. Petra Mirnaya 8-4; Reagan Graham def. Allison Steiner 8-6; Sydney Graham def. Taylo Combe 8-0.
DOUBLES — Bose/Vieira def. M.Minarya /A.Steiner 8-5; R.Graham/Hunn def. P.Minarya/E.Steiner 9-7.
Lemon Bay 7, Port Charlotte 0
SINGLES — Jordan Shirley d. Cassidy Gibbs 6-0, 6-0; Marie L'Abbe def. Maddie Francis 6-1, 6-0; Rosey Lowder def. Dita Carlsen 6-0, 6-3; Avery Shirley def. Summerlin Williams 6-2, 6-0; Fabiana Artigas def. Nour Jarrah 6-0, 6-1.
DOUBLES — J. Shirley/L'Abbe def. Gibbs/Carlsen 6-0, 6-1; Lowder/A. Shirley def. Francis/Williams 6-3, 6-4.
RECORDS: Lemon Bay (1-0); Port Charlotte (0-1).
Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: PREP ROUNDUP: Lakewood Ranch boys need penalty kicks to advance
