Mustang Magic

LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Lakewood Ranch High boys soccer team finally has its roster intact.

The Mustangs were without goalkeeper Liam Bramley, a pair of outside defenders and several forwards due to injury and illness throughout much of the season, forcing Lakewood to shuffle players in and out of positions they weren’t accustomed to playing.

But over the last two weeks, Lakewood has regained its health, and the Mustangs are peaking at the right time.

“It feels good,” Bramley says of being back in the net. “We struggled when everyone had injuries. I’m back and healthy now, and I just hope to continue winning.”

Lakewood won three consecutive games, including a come-from-behind victory against North Port to win their second-consecutive district title Jan. 24, and carried that momentum into the regional tournament.

Led by leading scorers Ryan Sollazzo and Felipe Dangond, the Mustangs posted their sixth shutout of the season with a 3-0 victory against Fort Myers in the Class 4A-Region 3 quarterfinals Jan. 30.

“We got everybody back and that’s important,” coach Vito Bavaro says. “We got the right guys in the right position. We knew that once we got the players healthy and the kids in the right position that we would be a tough team to beat.”

The Mustangs took the lead midway through the first half on a goal by Ben Wilson. Sollazzo added a goal nine minutes later, and Dangond rounded out the scoring for the Mustangs with a goal in the second half.

“It was really exciting,” Dangond says. “They were really aggressive. They had a good defense, but at the end of the day (we scored the goals).”

With the win, Lakewood hosted North Port in a regional semifinal match Feb. 4, setting up a rematch of the district championship.

Results from the match were unavailable as of press time Tuesday. Visit YourObserver.com to see how the Mustangs fared.

The winner will advance to the regional finals Friday.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].