Coral Reef girls’ soccer team finally breaks through to reach the regional finals

When the state did all of its reshuffling of classifications last spring, nobody was probably happier that longtime Dade soccer power Lourdes moved down one class than the Coral Reef Barracudas.

For the past four years, Coral Reef players have had to watch the Bobcats celebrate on the field at their expense, suffering postseason elimination each time, including the past two years in the regional semifinals.

Battling a game-long hard drizzle and wet field, Coral Reef found a way to finally break through late Friday afternoon when the Barracudas recorded a 3-0 victory over West Broward in a Region 4-7A semifinal at Tropical Park.

With the win, Coral Reef (20-2-1) advancedg to its first regional final. The next task will be a big one as they will travel to Broward County to take on Cypress Bay, the No. 1 ranked team in the state and No. 4 nationally ranked (Max Preps) in a Region 4-7A final Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“It’s been such a frustrating journey these past few years, and I feel like crying right now,” said Reef forward Ashley Alfaro, who scored two of her team’s three goals, assisted both times by Katherine Diaz. “We struggled a little bit in the first half, but we came out and moved the ball much better in the second half.

“This is my senior year and was my last shot to get past this round so it really meant a lot today.”

Alfaro scored the game’s first goal in the 14th minute when Diaz fed her a perfect centering pass in the middle that she knocked home.

With Reef playing solid defense and limiting West Broward’s chances, it score second goa 12 minutes into the second half when Mia Vissepo centered a pass right in front of the net that Tianna Rivera headed in to make it 2-0. The Cudas then just played an effective game of keepaway in the rain, possessing the ball for much of the time before Alfaro headed in a perfect corner kick from Diaz with just three minutes left to get the celebration on the Reef sideline started early.

“We have a lot of seniors on this team who have been through a lot of frustration these past years going toe-to-toe with Lourdes and coming up just short each time,” Reef coach Deano Nunez said. “So I’m happy for them. They deserve something like this today.”

West Broward, which finished 12-7, suffered through a frustrating day as coach Fred Wilde Jr., thanks to a series of injuries and other factors, barely had a team to field with just 12 players in uniform. On top of that, the team’s best player, Rosalina Santoro, left with an injury early in the second half.

▪ GIRLS’ REGION 4-4A SEMIFINAL — GULLIVER PREP 5, MIAMI SPRINGS 1: What was supposed to be an evenly matched game turned into anything but on Friday night as No. 3 seed Gulliver scored in the first two minutes of the game and dominated the rest of the night cruising to the easy win over No. 2 seed Springs.

“We knew that if we came in here and played our type of game, we felt confident we could come out of here with a win tonight, but even I’ll admit, not to this extent,” Gulliver coach ChiChi Nwadike said. “I think that early goal was huge. Against Mater a few days ago (Gulliver won 2-1) we had a chance to do the same thing and didn’t do it and wound up in a dogfight the rest of the way.”

Daniella Correa scored that early goal for the Raiders (17-6) in the second minute off an assist from Olaia Rackauskas and the rout was on. Catalina Garcia scored in the game’s 22nd minute before Correra scored again just before halftime to make it 3-0.

Ariana Hernando and Kate Hartnett added second-half goals. Ashley Romay scored the lone goal for Springs with just two minutes left to avoid the shutout. Gulliver will travel to Cardinal Gibbons for a Region 4-4A final matchup on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

▪ GIRLS’ 4A REGIONAL SEMIFINAL — CARDINAL GIBBONS 2, AMERICAN HERITAGE 1: Sydney Polivka is Cardinal Gibbons sophomore sensation.

The forward scored a pair of goals including the game-winner off a header in the 73rd minute to lift the Chiefs to a victory over American Heritage in a Class 4A regional semifinal.

It was Polivka’s fifth goal in the past two regional playoff games as she continues to lead the team in scoring with 27 goals. Gibbons also improve to 8-0 at home this season.

Cardinal Gibbons (16-3-4) will host Gulliver Prep, a 5-1 winner over Miami Springs, in a regional final on Tuesday.

“She’s on fire for sure,” said Cardinal Gibbons coach Margo Flack on Polivka’s scoring surge. “Her winning goal was huge and just as important as the assist from Rafaella Izquierdo that came off the bench.”

Down 1-0, the Patriots got a tying goal from sophomore forward Diana Pon on Jessica Oliveras’ corner kick in the 54th minute.

It would be the only goal for Heritage and the 10th time this season where it has scored one or fewer goals.

After a scoreless first half, Gibbons broke the ice in the 49th minute on Polivka’s first scoring header that came on an assist off a corner kick by Madi Rivard for the 1-0 lead.

Gibbons is one step closer to a repeat appearance in the state soccer final.

“From day one we talked about this season as a new slate,” Flack said. “The goal is always state. Our goal is districts and one step at a time after that. That’s where we are at right now.”

The Chiefs have outscored their opponents 37-2 in the past 10 games.

DAVE BROUSSEAU

▪ BOYS’ REGION 4-7A SEMIFINAL — CORAL REEF 1, REAGAN 0 (OT, 5-4 PKs): After 100 minutes of soccer could not produce a goal on either side, Coral Reef and Reagan decided things on penalty kicks and it was Reef goalkeeper Jeison Garcia that came through in big way.

Not only did he pull off a diving save of a penalty kick in the sixth round, but then came back in the bottom half and drilled the game-winning kick. Reef advances to the Region 4-7A final and will face either Cypress Bay or Coral Gables on Wednesday.

For Doral, it was a heartbreaking loss as the Bison came in undefeated at 19-0-0 and reigning GMAC champions.