The Windermere boys soccer team was not at full strength Wednesday night against Innovation, but with the depth and talent the Wolverines have, it didn’t matter.
Windermere was missing its leading scorer Andres Grisanti — ACL sprain — but it would not matter, as the Wolverines shut out a talented Innovation squad 4-0. Innovation had its own absences, missing its head coach and one of its top players. Coach Keven Glick was in Ocala tending to his ailing father, and Konstantino Frangias sat out with a broken nose.
Despite those absences, Windermere coach Lou Romao was still surprised with the score.
“I am surprised because they are a very good, talented team … and I think they’re gonna go very far in 6A,” Romao said.
The two teams played to a 0-0 draw until the 54th minute, when Felipe Ribeiro connected, starting a firing line at the Innovation goal. Within the next five minutes, Ivaldo Neto and Keagan Keifer also scored and Windermere was in control.
Romao was barking orders constantly early in the game as he felt his team had come out a bit sluggish.
“We got here late. We didn’t have a bus, so we had to drive here, and I knew they were not ready,” Romao said. “We didn’t come out ready. We came out flat. At halftime, I guess you can say the old coach in me brought out the old type of coaching where I kinda gave them the old pep … ‘get your heads up and let’s go and stop messing around.’ … They came back and they won and I’m very proud,”
It took 54 minutes to wake up, but they woke up in a big way. Enzo Bueno De Oliveria scored a breakaway goal late to cap the scoring.
Both Windermere (13-1-3) and Innovation (14-2-1), which has lost two straight, are high in the state rankings and have high expectations for the postseason. Windermere is ranked No. 9 in Class 7A, while Innovation is ranked No. 11 in Class 5A.
Windermere is loaded and should have Grisanti, who leads the team with 15 goals, back for the playoffs.
“Andres is a great player, but with these guys, it’s next guy up,” Romao said. “I’m very proud of the people stepping up and filling that role.”
Windermere’s Estevao Mormilha Viana (6) gets past Innovation’s Eduardo Garcia (23) during Windermere’s 4-0 win at Innovation on Wednesday night. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
It was the second straight shutout for Windermere, and third in the last four games. Freshman Carter Richmond was in goal against Innovation, which only had one direct shot on goal the entire game. Romao rotates goalies depending on the opponent. Thiago Davila was in goal for two of the shutouts.
Windermere’s defensive middle was tremendous against Innovation.
“The defense was really good, the midfield too. We stuck to our game plan,” Romao said. “We didn’t really stick to it in the beginning, but then towards the middle, after the water break and after halftime, they finally started listening and playing Coach Romao soccer.”
Since Romao put Luke Anthony, Vinny Sanchez, Arthur Passos and Nick Espitia on the back row, the team has allowed only one goal.
Windermere has made some drastic changes late in the season that have proven quite beneficial. Neto’s father came to Romao and told him his son used to play striker in Brazil, which Romao did not know. Neto transferred to Innovation from Foundation Academy.
So Romao moved Neto to striker and the junior scored a hat trick in his first game at the position. Romao also brought Ribeiro up from the junior varsity and in his first game against St. Cloud last month, he scored four goals. Ribeiro has scored in every game since joining varsity four games ago.
“Between the two of them, they have been on fire,” said Romao, whose team has outscored opponents 24-1 in the past four games. “As soon as I brought [Ribeiro] up we just changed completely. We have a nice mix of guys and it’s all about being mentally strong and right now we’re hitting that stride.”
That stride will improve even more when Grisanti, who has 15 goals this season, returns from his injury.
“With the playoffs coming up, we have a strong team and I think we’ll do very good,” said Grisanti, who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela eight years ago. “With God on our side, anything is possible.”
Innovation will be looking to bounce back from two straight defeats, but assistant coach Kyle Johnson said the team remains optimistic. The Bulls have one more game in the regular season Friday against Timber Creek.
Innovation center Kostantino Frangias had to sit out Wednesday’s game against Windermere with a broken nose, but he was giving his teammates pointers on the sideline. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
“It’s always possible that things can explode when you go into a game with the disadvantage we had, losing our head coach and losing our most important player,” Johnson said. “Sometimes the mental part of it can get to us. We didn’t play our game, so we had the game more on our defensive half.
“We didn’t stick to our game plan and we just started knocking long balls and that resulted in not really creating any chances.”
Johnson pointed to last season as a barometer for going forward. Going into the state playoffs last season, Innovation lost three straight games, but advanced to the third round before losing to Riverview 4-0.
‘We still always have hope for the future,” Johnson said. “Our goal is state champs. As long as we get healthy and get everyone back, we can do it.”
Frangias, a senior who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela two years ago, will only miss the Windermere game with his broken nose.
Windermere’s Ivaldo Neto gets a big hug from his coach Lou Romao after scoring a goal in Windermere’s 4-0 win over Innovation on Wednesday night. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
“It’s so hard because this is a dream game,” Frangias said of having to sit out Wednesday. “It’s a night where all players want to be … it’s really hard.
“It’s been an amazing season and from last year we have improved a lot. We’ve been training really good and being concentrated. We got amazing players this year. … We have a better mentality.
“I think we are going to play in the final in the state and we’re gonna win that game. I really want to win. It’s gonna be amazing.”
Both Venezuelan players have also had issues in their home country on their minds. They said they were happy with the U.S. stepping in to help take down Venezuelan’s controversial president Nicolás Maduro.
“I don’t know if that’s the way they should have done it, with the government doing that, but I’m happy they took him out of power,” Grisanti said.
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
