Boys soccer: Countryside upended in final four

TAMPA - One unlucky bounce of the ball.

After flying through the regular season and regionals with at dominating 24-1-1 record while gaining top-10 national recognition along the way, Countryside High's ultimate demise was sealed by an unfortunate carom during Friday night's Class 6A state semifinal against Westin Cypress Bay (16-2).

Tied 1-1 in the 74th minute, Cougars goalkeeper Hunter Maricle raced forward to cut off a long through but was unable to secure the ball when colliding with Cypress Bay forward Carlos Vargas. The ball deflected left directly to Andres Torres, who promptly buried the shot past two last-ditch Countryside defenders.

The Cougars responded with an all-out attack for the final six minutes, but were unable to get off a corner kick before the final horn sounded to give the Lightning a 2-1 victory at the University of Tampa's Pepin Stadium.

It was only the second time all season the Cougars allowed more than a single goal in any match.

"It's just how the game is," said senior Derya Ekren, who scored Countryside's lone goal in the 13th minute. "Some teams win and some teams lose. It's hard for us but we gave it all. There's nothing to regret."

"It's very difficult to handle," Maricle said. "We fought all year and for it to come down to this is heartbreaking, for sure."

Ekren's goal, assisted by a flick from Zack Shriver, knotted the game at 1-all only 4 minutes after Cypress Bay took an early lead in the 9th minute. Ekren patiently stayed onsides for Shriver's delivery, dribbled around one defender, moved left and beat Lightning keeper Paul Lima to the far post.

Countryside coach David Sica said his team appeared to get off to a slow start on the big stage, but rebounded nicely. "The sign of a good team is being able to answer back and we did. These guys fought hard; unfortunately we came up a little short."

Cypress Bay came out strong early on the attack with its midfield dictating the game's flow. The Lightning's 9th minute goal came when Vargas received a through ball from Aaron Bravo inside the Countryside 18. Vargas pivoted and drilled a sweeping left-footer inside the top left-corner.

The Cougars responded quickly with Ekren's goal and other frontline players like Jagger Martinez, Nikolai Hammer and Cory Sauerwine beginning to win more balls and create opportunities throughout the remainder of the half.

Countryside missed out on a chance to potentially take the lead during the 32nd minute. Martinez sent a ball to a pair of teammates inside the Cypress Bay goal box that smacked off the hand of a Lightning defender, but play continued as no whistle was blown.

Sica said his bench saw the no-call infraction but declined to use it as a reason for Countryside's loss.

"It's a judgement call and there were calls in the first half that probably could have gone their way. The officials, I thought, let us play. They let two good, physical teams play. We didn't handle our business, that's it. That's what it all boils down to. We didn't end up with one more goal than they did."

The transpiration of the game's conclusion was also a slightly unsettling moment for the Cougars. Throughout the season, the final stoppage-time minutes of play are kept on the field until the head referee whistles the game dead. During state-finals matches, the time shown on the scoreboard is official and the game ends at all zeros. After Ekren hustled at full speed from midfield to track down a ball at the Cypress Bay goal line and create a corner kick, the horn sounded as his cross was in midflight. Players on both sides were initially hesitant to react as though the game was over.

Sica's response was in line with the first-half no-call, though he did mention the confusion that can arise given the gravity of a state semifinal situation. "The problem with that was he was in the corner and looking at his teammates, not looking at the clock. It's not a knock on anyone; they're trying to make it as professional as they can. But you haven't done that the whole year, so why are you doing it now?"

"But it could have worked out the other way. We could split hairs there. Even if he gets that off and we score it, it's tied. We didn't do our job in the 80 minutes and that's it."

Cypress Bay will now play Miami Felix Varela on Saturday night at 7 for the Class 6A title. The Vipers beat Port Orange Spruce Creek 2-1 in the semifinal match preceding Countryside-Cypress Bay.

BOX SCORE:

Countryside - 1 - 0 --- 1
Cypress Bay - 1 - 1 --- 2

SCORING:

Countryside

Derya Ekren - 1 Goal (13')
Zack Shriver - 1 Assist

Cypress Bay

Carlos Vargas - 1 Goal (9'), 1 Assist
Andres Torres - 1 Goal (74')
Aaron Bravo - 1 Assist