Entering the district finals with a playoff record of 2-0, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School men’s varsity soccer team faced the Monarch Knights on Monday, Jan. 30. This game determined which team would host the entirety of the regional championship.

The Eagles had a successful season and came into this match strong with a season record of 11-3-2. The Eagles were the No. 1 seed of the District 13-7A rankings.

The game started off with majority possession of the ball by Monarch. The Eagles defense attempted to get the ball back, but the Knights were too strong. The Knights fans came in strong as well, making comments from the stands that got to the MSD players’ heads.

“I feel we were a bit nervous at the start and the crowd got to our heads,” midfielder Anthony Carnuccio (18) said. “We must learn from this game and apply it in regionals.”

In the beginning of the first half, the Knights scored a goal, making the score 1-0.

A few minutes before halftime was called, the Knights got a penalty kick in favor of them. The goalkeeper for the Eagles attempted to keep the ball out of the goal, but it was not possible as the Knights came in with a strong kick. This made the score 2-0 in favor of the Knights.

“We put our chances away and made silly mistakes that could tilt the game to the opponent,” defender Ian Selveraj (5) said.

Overall, the Knights came in strong even though the eagles put in their maximum effort, the Knights dominated the field.

“In regionals, as a team, we need to give more effort on the field as we came out last game very sloppy and predictable,” midfielder Tomer Yair (6) said. “We also can not let the last game define us as a team because we are much better than what we showed on the field against Monarch. Although we lost the district championship, we must now flip the page and begin to focus on the bigger picture, which is a state championship.”

This game makes the Eagles the No. 2 seed in their district standings. The Eagles plan to practice every day after school in order to raise their chances in regionals. The Eagles are able to make it to regionals because of their successful season and No. 2 ranking in their district and will once again play Monarch High School on Wednesday Feb. 8.

Tags: Carolina Ochoa Lozano, Tomer Yair, Ian Selveraj, Anthony Carnuccio, Monarch High School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, District 13-7A