South Broward boys’ soccer team loses heartbreaker to Niceville in OT of title game

Just 13 minutes away from what would’ve been a historic moment for the South Broward boys’ soccer team, it all went south for the Bulldogs.

Having battled their way through three consecutive road wins, including against No. 1 nationally ranked Doral to make it to Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game, the Bulldogs dropped a 7-3 overtime heartbreaker to Niceville, the No. 2 team in the country, at Spec Martin Stadium.

When Micheal Gonzalez scored on a head shot off a great centering pass form Daniel Popa with 19:20 left in regulation, South Broward led 3-2 and could taste what would have been a first state title.

But Niceville tied the score with 12:55 left on a perfect throw-in/header and then popped in the eventual game-winner on another perfectly executed corner kick/header from Cody Albert to Liam Etan with 3:32 left in the first 10-minute overtime.

South Broward goalkeeper Josh David Alejo was also injured on the play, and the combination of watching its starting keeper trudging off to the sidelines and having fallen behind caused shoulders to slump on the South Broward side. As a result, the damn broke as Niceville opened up the floodgates with three more goals in the second overtime to make the game look much more lopsided than it was.

“We’ve been a resilient group all season long and I can’t be more proud of the boys for the run they put together,” South Broward coach Lionel Brown said. “I thought we executed our game plan well all game until the end. “Defending set plays has been one of our weaknesses all season long, and it got us today because they tied it on a set piece and took the lead on one. But to go through the gauntlet we did to get here, I’ll never forget what these kids did.”

South Broward got off to a great start when Nico Robles scored the first of his two goals 16 minutes into the game.

Even after Niceville (25-0-2) tied the score before halftime and then went out in front three minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs (18-5-2), who in addition to Doral recorded road wins over St. Thomas Aquinas in the regional semifinals and Lakeland George Jenkins in the state semi, battled back. Robles scored off an assist from Mark Kurtevski at the 34:17 mark to tie it and eventually Gonzalez’s goal put them in front.

“In the first and second half, we kept a really good rhythm and played well, even after we fell behind 2-1,” Robles said. “We had them — we were so close — so close and then they got us on those set pieces. I’m still proud to be part of this team. To do what we did beating all these great teams on the road to get here says everything you need to know about our heart and soul as a team.”