With 20 seconds left of overtime, forward Daniel Erazo scored a goal, sealing Hagerty’s semifinal win with a score of 2-1. Erazo, along with the combined efforts of his team, led the varsity boys soccer to the finals and ensured them a spot in regional playoffs.
“The goal really showed the strength, the endurance and the perseverance of the team. We were able to secure that last win, which we truly deserved,” Erazo said. “I feel like that last goal was just a show of everything that we’ve done throughout the whole year and that we were truly meant to [move] on to the finals.”
This year marked a strong season for boys varsity soccer, with a 10-2-3 overall record and qualifications for both district finals and regional quarterfinals, a feat they have not accomplished since 2019.
“They have overachieved. I am a believer now. At first, when we had the group together, I was hoping for maybe six wins, six losses, two ties. But they’ve made a believer out of me,” head coach Michael McAvoy said. “They keep going hard, keep going strong and it’s always somebody new that steps up and I couldn’t be prouder of all of them.”
Throughout the season, the team has been strong on both sides of the ball, with an average of 13 shots per game and a total of 113 saves from goalkeeper Brendan Valentin. The team was able to gain momentum and obtain a five game winning streak with a 1-0 win against Oviedo, the first win since 2022.
“After we won that game, we got a huge boost in confidence. It allowed us to keep winning,” forward Leonardo Garay said.
The team had a near-perfect regular season, only losing their undefeated title to Winter Springs with a 3-1 loss on Jan. 15. A win over Master’s Academy to end the regular season helped refocus the team for the playoffs.
“We learned to keep fighting until the end, to keep doing our job and play smart even though we would get tired from playing the whole game. We had to trust ourselves and trust that if we made a mistake defending, someone would be there to cover the mistake,” defender Sergio Portillo-Rivera said.
Ranking fifth in regional standings, the team was given direct passage to the district semifinals for the first time in six years. On Jan. 24, Hagerty played the district semifinals against University, winning 2-1 after a quarter of overtime. This was the first time the team played University since their 4-0 preseason loss.
“University is a strong, fast, and talented team but our boys never gave up and we were able to get one [goal] with 20 seconds left. They work hard, they come back from adversity all year and they did that again to get to the district finals,” McAvoy said.
Shortly after kick-off, University scored the first goal of the game. Not long after, Valentin sent the ball forward, bouncing off from a defender and giving space for midfielder Max Carrasco to bring the score to a tie. Despite a strong start, Hagerty focused heavily on defense, covering each other and making sure University was kept at bay.
“We just had to make sure not to make any dumb mistakes [or] silly fouls. We don’t need to win the ball all the time. We just needed to make sure they didn’t get past us. That’s what defense is all about,” Portillo-Rivera said.
After the semifinal win, the team faced Timber Creek in the finals on Jan. 30. However, the team came up short with a 1-0 loss. After an early goal from forward Kaden De La Rosa was marked offside, Hagerty was not able to recover momentum, with a foul giving Timber Creek an opportunity to score in the opening 14 minutes.
Despite their disappointment with the outcome of the district finals, Hagerty had an overall strong season.
“I’m sure a lot of the boys are happy being able to get to district finals and obviously move on to regionals. It shows what we were capable of throughout the year. It’s still a bittersweet feeling because we really wanted to win districts,” Erazo said. “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn, and that was just the game we had to learn.”
On Feb. 4, Hagerty will face West Orange for regional quarterfinals. The game will be held at West Orange and will start at 7 p.m. While the team is focused on advancing as far as possible in the state playoffs, they realize that this season has already been special.
“At the end of the season, when it’s all over, we’ll be able to look back on the season we had and appreciate what we were capable of achieving,” Portillo-Rivera said.
