Westminster Christian’s state title hopes evaporate in an avalanche of goals

Westminster Christian senior midfielder Matias Gutierrez laid on the ground for a couple of seconds after colliding with Tampa Catholic goalie Eric Fidalgo on Thursday night.

Gutierrez watched the ball roll into the back of the net for the first goal in Westminster Christian history in a state title game.

Unfortunately for Gutierrez and the Warriors, their joy wouldn’t last 10 seconds.

It took less than that for Tampa Catholic to tie the game and only a few more minutes to effectively put the game away with three more tallies, dealing the Warriors a 4-2 loss in the Class 3A state final at Spec Martin Stadium.

Tampa Catholic (25-2) won its first-ever state championship after going 0-3 in prior state finals.

“I thought that was definitely the turning point,” said eighth-year Westminster Christian coach Josh Kirk, who guided the Warriors past the regionals for the first time since 2012. “We had a little lapse in concentration and that swung the game. Over the next 10 minutes the momentum shifted and we never got it back until it was too late.”

Senior Marcello Valbuena scored the first of his two goals seconds after Gutierrez’s goal when he kicked home a rebound off Westminster keeper Johnny Gleason. Eight minutes later, Valbuena struck again on a header off a corner by Sean Siwek to give Tampa Catholic the lead for good.

Siwek later fired a free kick that Jack O’Leary followed up for a third goal just before halftime. The onslaught continued in the second half as Valbuena rushed into the box and drew a foul on Sean Maresma with 30:44 left. Jacob Spengler converted the penalty kick to make it 4-1.

Westminster Christian (11-4-2), which was playing in its first state championship match and graduates seven seniors, added a goal with 6:20 left when Jack Butler scored his team-high 12th goal. The Warriors couldn’t capitalize further despite having a man advantage for the final 11-plus minutes after Valbuena received a second yellow card.

“You could see the character of this team,” Kirk said. “They fought until the final seconds and hopefully we can get back. But this one hurts.”