BOYNTON BEACH — Somerset Canyons sophomore goalkeeper Jayden Rios didn’t play in Friday night’s 3A boys regional title game against defending state champion American Heritage-Delray until the final 1 minute, 45 seconds of the second overtime.
It was by design, as he and fellow sophomore goalie Massimo Valdepenas had split time for much of the season. Cougars soccer coach Eric De Sousa had committed to playing Rios in a penalty kick shootout to advance to the first final four appearance in school history.
“Massimo is a great keeper,” said Rios, who also had a penalty-kicks win last season. “Honestly, the save doesn’t compare to anything. Everybody was cheering the team and me on. This is the best.”
Rios, who didn’t touch the ball at all during overtime, got fingertips on three of the Stallions’ six penalty kicks in the shootout, but smothered the final shot by Oliver Pierro as Somerset Canyons stunned defending state champion American Heritage-Delray 3-2 (6-5 PKs) on Friday night.
“We knew Massimo was going to play this game,” De Sousa said. “We gave Rios the district championship final. We knew if it went to (penalty kicks), Rios was our guy.”
Mateo Kukcuoglu gave American Heritage-Delray (12-6) a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, but Juan Casillas equalized for the Cougars on a penalty kick with a little less than four minutes remaining in regulation.
The Stallions’ Michael Harris blasted home a goal just three minutes into the first overtime before Kingston Alexis saw to it that the game went an additional 20 minutes of overtime when he scored off a brilliant left-footed cross from Emmanuel Colmenares with a little more than four minutes remaining for Somerset Canyons.
“Man, I just had to figure out my movement and get by two defenders,” Alexis said. “I don’t remember much. I just went crazy. Last year, we couldn’t go, so we wanted to do it right here on our field.
“We did this for the girls, too,” Alexis said after the defending state champion Cougars girls lost in PKs in a similar fashion to North Broward Prep just hours earlier. “They gave us motivation because we didn’t want to lose out here, too. We did it for them because it is a whole family out here.”
The Cougars (15-2-2) face Santa Fe (14-4-3) in the 3A state semifinal at Lake Myrtle Sport Complex in Auburndale on Thursday at 4 p.m. Top-seeded Downtown Doral (17-1-3) plays Cocoa Beach (16-7-1) in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.
De Sousa said the team was committed to earning a higher seed this year than American Heritage-Delray after losing the regional final last year as the visitor.
“It was a roller-coaster ride,” De Sousa said. “We wanted to play them on our field, in front of our fans. It was the same way in the district final (a 2-1 loss): we were down, came back, tied it, and then they won in the last minute.
“We knew we had to be resilient today,” he added. “They are going to make a movie someday about American Heritage and us. It is a classic. We weren’t going to change tactics, and for a freshman (Angel Morales) to make his kick at the end was incredible.”
Morales said he just started taking more penalty kicks this season, his first in high school and for his club.
“I was just blurring everything out as I was walking up to take the penalty kick,” Morales said. “I just focused, picked a side, and made it. I am happy for my team, and I believe we can win (state).”
American Heritage-Delray coach Victor Sanchez credited Somerset Canyons with being a “resilient bunch of boys.”
“They were down, and they battled through,” Sanchez said. “It’s tough. Our boys were resilient as well. There were some definite lows in the game for us, but I think we did an amazing job.
“I felt pretty confident going into the PKs, but things just didn’t fall our way,” he added. “For these boys, it is about their journey, and my heart goes out to them. We battled injuries and adversity all year, and I am proud of them, but you have to give a lot of credit to Somerset.”
Regional finals
Friday
3A
1. Somerset Canyons def. 3. American Heritage-Delray 3-2 (PKs)
2A
1. Melbourne Holy Trinity def. 2. King’s Academy 3-2 (PKs)
1A
1. Miami BridgePrep def. 3. Highlands Christian 3-1
According to FHSAA.com
Tuesday at 7 p.m. unless noted
7A
3. Columbus at 1. Cypress Bay
6A
3. Monarch at 1. St. Thomas Aquinas
5A
7. Dr. Joaquin Garcia at 4. Pembroke Pines Charter
4A
4. Mater Lakes at 2. American Heritage
State semifinals
In Auburndale
3A
Somerset Canyons vs. Santa Fe, Thursday, 4 p.m.
