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BOYNTON BEACH — In her four years at Somerset Academy Canyons, Valentina Guzman has seen the women’s football program grow from underdog to county powerhouse.
So she wasn’t going to ruin her day Friday night with a 2-0 loss to North Broward Prep in the 13-4A Division semifinals that ended the Cougars’ 10-game unbeaten streak.
“I’m not really disappointed,” said the senior defender. “It’s kind of a sweet and sour thing because you know how much this team has grown since we started, from summer training, to the conditioning that we do every day….it’s the motivation for the next round. am.”
Yes, we have the Cougars (11-3-1) next round with a guaranteed big bid to the state playoffs. In the FHSAA format, the four district champions and the next top four teams will qualify from Region 4.
Coming into district play, the region’s top three teams all came from District 13. All three will advance to the state tournament.
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That was some solace in the bitter aftermath of the Cougars’ first loss since November.
“I definitely could have done better,” Guzman said. “But if this is the path we should take and if it’s not the district final, it’s a different path for us and we just have to keep working.
Somerset had a golden opportunity in the opening moment when a hard shot by freshman Katherine Beckwith hit the post. But North Broward (13-5-1), who are battling American Heritage (9-1-1) for the district title on Tuesday night, controlled play for most of the first half. The game remained scoreless with only a series of saves, including a diving stop, by Somerset goalkeeper Ana Gutierrez.
Coach Oscar Narvaez attributed the Cougars’ slow start to tension, and Guzman readily agreed.
“It was my first match and I was just nervous,” she said. “Our stomachs hurt and we weren’t there. But we know the game is going to be tough and we have to get through it.”
The Eagles finally broke through in the 45th minute when Leah Finkelman, one of the state’s top players, converted a penalty kick after the Cougars were called for a foul in the box.
Finkelmann, who is committed to the pens, sealed the deal in the 65th minute when he fired a low shot into the corner of the net. This was her 34th goal of the season and equals her school record last year.
“Number 10 is an animal,” Narvaez said of Finkelman. “She ripped us apart — two goals for her when it mattered at crunch time. It was hard to stop her tonight.”
But Narváez, like Guzman, prefers to see the big picture. When he took over the program in his 2020 season, the Cougars were going 3-7-1 to finish his season, and Narvaez was facing a major rebuilding task.
After going 7-6 and 10-9-1 for the next two seasons, this year the program started with a great mix of youth and experience. The main goalscorers are junior Ashanti Avellaneda (15) and freshman Sephora Joachim (10). The assist leaders are sophomore Jada Simmons (11) and her junior Cameron Cerse (10).
Gutierrez, who gave up just three goals in Somerset’s unbeaten record (9-0-1), is still in his sophomore year.
Guzman will assume senior leadership alongside defender Olivia Kweskin.
“They were able to embrace the culture,” said Narvaez. “They are very humble about their work. They come every day and really want to work hard, so the only way they make my job difficult is that I can’t let them down. about it.”
Somerset will head to the region for the first time in the program’s history. No one is happier than Guzman, who didn’t expect this level of success in ninth grade.
“My freshman year, I was going to transfer,” she said. I had no motivation to play the game.
“I felt like I didn’t belong here, so I was going somewhere else.”
Guzman, who trained for Colombia’s 20U team, was sidelined in his sophomore year with a torn ACL. She stayed in Somerset.
“I didn’t believe him,” she said. “But in junior year we saw an improvement. We are actually winning games, we are highly motivated and we have seen a complete change this year. Now we are a family. Training is like college level. I feel like it’s something.” I condition during the summer and never rest during the winter break. ”
Guzman made his feelings known to the team during the pre-match pep talk.
“Instead of telling them what I always say to them, which is that we have to play very hard, I told them a few words of thanks.” When I was a freshman, it was even a dream to reach here. Now it’s a goal and a purpose.”
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