Lakewood Ranch boys soccer charges toward the postseason

Vito Bavaro was running late to practice.

The head coach of the Lakewood Ranch High boys varsity soccer team, a title he’s held since 2007, was held up in a faculty meeting for his other position at the school as a counselor.

For his players, who were gathered on the school’s turf athletic field, his tardiness didn’t seem to matter.

Led by senior captain Jacob Gillson, the Mustangs operate like a well oiled machine, whether that is during games or in practice. They progressed from warm-up drills to a tightly knit three-man weave, with the players passing with efficiency and taking turns blasting shots with game-level intensity on a rotating crew of goalkeepers.

As of Jan. 10, the Mustangs were 12-2, ranked 22nd in the state by the Florida High School Athletic Association and fourth in Class 6A.

Photo by Dylan Campbell

There is a standard that has been set under Bavaro — one that does not crumble just because his team is left unsupervised for 15 minutes. Lakewood Ranch has won four regional titles in Bavaro’s tenure — 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020 — and has established itself as one of the top high school programs in a region that is a hotbed of youth soccer.

Last season, the Mustangs went 12-8, before losing to North Port High on penalty kicks in the 7A District 8 title game.

This year, Bavaro is confident that his team can rectify last year’s shortcomings. He said his players, solely upperclassmen, are mature and teachable.

“At the end of the day, they’re all here for each other and they all have a goal,” Bavaro said. “The goal is to win. We want to win district. We want to win our region and we want to win our first state title. We have all the components to do that, it’s just a matter of being disciplined, staying healthy and having a little luck.”

One of those components is junior striker Broden Beorlegui, who leads the team with 25 goals. Bavaro said Beorlegui, who scored 11 goals as a sophomore, has made the step this season from good to great. Beorlegui, who plays club soccer for Florida Premier FC, harbors professional aspirations and this past fall, he withdrew from Lakewood Ranch High to attend Florida Virtual School after traveling to Germany to train with two teams from the Bundesliga, the country’s top soccer league.

Photo by Dylan Campbell

While Beorlegui’s increase in training time has improved his level of play, making him faster, stronger and more technically adept, much of Lakewood Ranch’s success has come from him changing his style of play. Bavaro said that Instead of focusing primarily on just scoring goals, Beorlegui has involved his teammates more this season.

“It’s hard to tell somebody that you don’t want them to score,” Bavaro said. “I said to him, ‘you’ll score more goals if you pass more’ and he’s seen the field open up for him. He’s become unselfish and just reads the field so much better than he did last year.”

Beorlegui, who tallied just three assists last year, compared to eight this season, admits there is a fine balance between being aggressive and distributing the ball to his teammates.

“My job as a striker is to choose when to be selfish and when to take those shots to secure a win for the team,” Beorlegui said. “In our game against Parrish Community High (3-2 victory on Dec. 18), I scored a hat trick to pull off the win, but that was all generated by the team. They were two penalty kicks and a tap-in — I was just the lucky guy to pull off the goals in the end.”

Photo by Dylan Campbell

Beorlegui’s increased willingness to spread the ball around has gone hand in hand with a change in strategy for Lakewood Ranch. Last season, the forwards were more separated from the rest of the team, said Bavaro.

This year, instead of having the two strikers waiting for the ball, the midfield moves in unison with Beorlegui. Not only does this open up the field for more scoring opportunities, but Bavaro said it allows Lakewood Ranch to prevent itself from being exposed defensively by opposing offenses.

So far, the tactical change has paid off. Not only are the Mustangs averaging over four goals a game, they also have recorded six shutouts. Aside from a 5-1 loss to Tampa's Jesuit Catholic on Jan. 9 — the 5A state runner-up in 2024 and the 21st ranked team in the nation according to Max Preps — opponents have only scored two goals against Lakewood Ranch three times this season.

Photo by Dylan Campbell

“High school soccer doesn’t typically have a high level of play,” said senior captain Cody Conway, a center defensive midfielder. “Normally, it’s a lot of kick and run, trying to be more athletic than the other team, just not the same level of chemistry that you’d see in club soccer. This year it’s not like that. We have the skills and the talent throughout the team to be able to hold the ball and move it forward properly without just kicking it and relying on speed.”

Beorlegui, however, isn’t the only player that makes this change in strategy possible. Bavaro was quick to point out the contributions of all his players, including senior midfielder Daniel Cadavid, who he referred to as the “quarterback” of the team.

“He cements the middle for us,” Bavaro said. “He sees the entire field and he’s so unselfish, his passes are just tremendous, plus he can bang one home from the outside.”