Rays' District Dreams Go Down on Penalty Kicks

No one likes to lose on penalty kicks. As the higher seed, Marco Island Academy (four) had home field advantage in their Thursday, January 26 district opener against First Baptist Academy (five). After 80 hard fought minutes of regulation time the Rays found themselves tied 1-1. Two ten-minute overtime periods couldn't break the tie. Then FBA was perfect on their four penalty kicks and the Rays missed twice. First Baptist’s 4-2 advantage in penalty kicks was the difference.

MIA coach Fernando Higuera felt a turning point in the game came when one of his players was dealt a blow that he felt merited a red card. In Florida high school soccer, when a player receives a red card, they are ejected from the game. Additionally, the violator’s team is not allowed to replace the player in the lineup.

“That was a red card,” Higuera said. "The referees saw it differently. They would have been down to 10 players. We just couldn’t make it. We tried really hard for 100 minutes. In the end it’s a lot of pressure for the kids. Going out like that hurts, but I’m proud of them. They gave it their all. Tough team. It’s a loss. We learn and hopefully we’re ready for next year.”

Higuera returns most of his lineup next year.

“We have a very young team,” he said. "We had our chances this season. We lost because of our mistakes. So we should be good next year. We’re going to practice over the summer. There are some things we need to work on. When the season starts next year, we will be ready.”

Chase Polley scored the Rays’ only goal, a rocket shot from the left side with 33:54 left in the first half. FBA tied it up at the end of the first half.

The Rays finish the season 5-7-1. FBA improves to 6-8-1 and moves on to the second round of the district tournament.