Prose and Kohn: Mustangs soccer eliminated thanks to missed opportunities

The expected tears never came for the Lakewood Ranch High boys soccer players, probably because they were in shock.

Rather than tears, it was blank stares as the Mustangs listened to the final post-game talk of the season by Coach Vito Bavaro, who was trying his best to make his players feel good about their achievements in an 18-2-1 season.

They certainly had the horses to make it to the Final Four of the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A state tournament. But a 3-1 overtime loss to visiting Plant High Feb. 16 in the regional finals meant an earlier exit than expected.

Plant High sports a 22-3-1 record, and has made it to the state title game, so Lakewood Ranch's loss shouldn't be termed a major upset, but it was an upset nonetheless.

"I told the players that we needed to score two goals on this team because they are a good team," Bavaro said. "We had one, which was a great goal. And then we had a couple chances to put in a couple more goals and we just did not do it, you know?"

Since the Mustangs didn't pad their lead when they had the opportunities, they put themselves in the situation of needing to play perfect defense. Bavaro said their inability to take advantage of their offensive opportunities left them vulnerable to making one bad mistake.

They made that one bad mistake.

Plant senior Joe Anderson was given the room to feed a perfect cross into the box for junior Hayden Judge, who had worked his way free. Judge headed the ball past Mustangs senior goalkeeper Josh McManis to tie the game with nine minutes remaining. 

"We gave them a chance to get back in the game," Bavaro. "I told the kids it was going to come down to one mistake, a lapse in judgment or not finishing (a goal). Whoever doesn't make that mistake is going to win the game. That's exactly what happened."

The Mustangs appeared to have the talent to be back in the state championship game for the first time since 2016-2017. The players had the confidence as well.

But after the Mustangs failed to take advantage of their opportunities, they continued to attack, which opened up scoring chances at the other end for Plant. Obviously, Bavaro thought Plant eventually would score, so he wanted his team to remain aggressive chasing that second goal.

Would it have been a better strategic move to go into a defensive shell? Hindsight says yes.

"My instinct was to play everybody back and hold on for dear life," Bavaro said. "We have done that in the past and it has worked. But it is a hard thing to tell the kids to do. Nobody wants to do it. In the Premier League, a 1-0 game is great. They sit back and no one scores and it works. But it's hard to tell high schoolers to play that way."

I get it. If I was a high schooler, I'd want to play my team's usual style. Sitting back and playing a shut-down game can feel a little cheap, like a football team opting to control the ball and run out the clock with half of the fourth quarter remaining.

But if my team's season was on the line — with a trip to the Final Four in the grasp — perhaps the conservative move would have been the right play.

Clark demurred when asked if he thought the team should have been more focused on defense, saying he thought the team's plan was solid. The Mustangs just didn't get it done. 

Some fans will see the 3-1 score and think the game wasn't close. Unless you were there, you wouldn't realize the Mustangs scored seven minutes into the game off a rocket of a free kick from senior Sam Leavy and then seemed to be in control until Plant's late-game goal.

When the game went into overtime, Plant took control with a goal on its first possession of overtime. Plant senior Justin Tiller scored to put the Panthers on top 2-1 and then when the Mustangs pressed for another goal, trying to regain their offensive aggressiveness, Plant iced the game with another goal with 3:30 remaining in overtime.

"It was a tough loss, especially the last few minutes," Mustangs senior Drew Clark said. "A few people played through injuries and I think a few people were nervous. Together, it was a tough combination. It took a toll. The goal at the beginning inspired us and gave us hope and helped us be aggressive. But as the game went on, those things dropped off."

Clark said his senior season was one of his favorites despite how it ended. After several of the players contracted COVID-19 in 2020-2021 and wrecked their chances at a deep run, the upperclassmen wanted the chance to lead their team deep into the playoffs. Clark said he believes they accomplished that much. As fun as the games were, Clark said he will remember the off-field hijinks with equal fondness, like the team golf outings and freshman initiations. 

This loss will sting for a while but the Mustangs should remain a state power. They do lose Clark, Leavy and leading scorer Felipe DeSouza, among others, but freshman defender Cody Conway became an anchor of the defense and sophomore goalkeeper Noah Rueping impressed while splitting time with senior Josh McManis this season.

But it will seem like a long wait for another chance.