High school boys soccer regionals: Bolles, Yulee advance to FHSAA final four

Denied over and over through the night by Providence goalkeeper Ridge Cullen, and in the final minute by the officials' whistle, Miles Rivera never lost heart.

"I just saw that it was going to skim over the last guy's head, and I was like, 'I've just got to stay composed and put it in the back of the net.'"

His reward: a trip to the final four.

Bolles junior Rivera drilled home the game-winning goal in the second overtime period at Selman Field, firing the Bulldogs past Providence 2-1 in Wednesday night's Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-3A boys soccer final.

CROSS COUNTRY CONNECTION

The Bulldogs' winner came with a dash of cross country flavor.

After a quick corner kick to junior midfielder Will Morales, the ball took a couple of deflections before Rivera — who had an apparent 80th-minute game-winner wiped out for a foul — put away the loose ball.

Both Morales and Rivera ran for the Bolles cross country team in the fall, which won the FHSAA Class 2A championship.

"It was kind of our trick play we've run all season," Morales said. "I got to my spot, heard a teammate call for it, it bounced around in there and we got the goal."

CULLEN STARS FOR STALLIONS

Until that point, Cullen, the hero of Providence's penalty-shootout win over Bolles in the District 3-3A final and their regional triumph over Florida High, had kept the Bulldogs frustrated with save after acrobatic save.

The junior keeper twice stretched to knock bending free kicks from Sanders Dunn over the bar, and lunged at full speed to deny a Morales goal at the far post.

The regional final run was the deepest for 12 years for the Stallions, who started three freshmen and three sophomores.

"They really play a stalwart defense, and [Cullen] keeps them in games and won them a lot of games," Bolles head coach Jim Lieb said. "We knew they were going to be hard to break down, and we just had to keep plugging away."

BULLDOGS EXTEND REGIONAL STREAK

Victory means a fourth consecutive final-four trip for the Bulldogs, the first time they've captured four straight regional titles since 2002-05.

After a first half with plenty of Bulldog possession but no scores, Luke Santamaria finished a Rivera cross to give Bolles a 54th-minute lead. That edge held up until Providence equalized seven minutes from the end, when Christian Clarke kept the ball alive at the edge of the box and freshman Sam Loftin pounced for the Stallions (11-3-3).

Hot down the stretch to rebound from a four-game mid-year skid, the Bulldogs (11-8-2) advance to a Saturday state semifinal at No. 1 seed Fort Lauderdale NSU University.

"We feel like we owe it to last year's seniors after we lost that final four game [1-0 at Ransom Everglades] last year," Rivera said. "We definitely want to get back and make sure we get in that title game."

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REGION 1-3A

The Hornets are buzzing into the final four.

Yulee broke a deadlock with four minutes to go, defeating host Bishop Kenny 2-1 and sealing the first-ever state semifinal visit for Hornets boys soccer.

Matthew McNicholas fired Yulee (18-2-1) into a first-half lead, before Joseph Jimenez equalized for the Crusaders (14-4-3) with his third goal in 48 hours.

For Yulee, Saturday's Class 4A semifinal at Miami Gulliver Prep will be the school's first semifinal in any team ball sport since all-time national rushing king Derrick Henry led Hornets football into the final four in 2012.

REGION 1-2A

For the second straight week, Tallahassee St. John Paul II forward Matias Pardi sank a Northeast Florida team in double overtime, netting the game-winner to edge St. Johns Country Day 4-3.

The Spartans (8-6-4), state finalists two years ago, had clawed back from a two-goal deficit to force overtime in the 79th minute. The host Panthers (16-2-1) advance to their first-ever final four.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school boys soccer 2023: Northeast Florida regional final winners