Soccer stunners: Oxbridge boys, King's girls pull off massive playoff upsets at Benjamin

It was a nightmare Friday night for Benjamin soccer – its two powerhouse teams suffering massive upsets on its Palm Beach Gardens campus.

It was a doubleheader downer for the Buccaneers in the 3A state regional semifinals. The boys team started the evening by losing a 1-0 stunner to Oxbridge Academy behind a free-kick goal by Julien Dorsey.

The encore saw the unbeaten Benjamin girls team lose by penalty kicks to a King’s Academy squad missing its best player Lola Hathorne. The two teams went scoreless for the first 100 minutes before the shootout. In all, Benjamin’s two soccer teams failed to score Friday in 180 minutes of regular play.

Sophia Cueto scored the penalty-kick clincher for the King’s Academy girls in the fifth and final round, her low shot skidding off the fingertips of the Benjamin goalie for a 4-3 edge that set off a wild midfield celebration.

“It’s an incredible victory,’’ Cueto said. “We knew we were the underdogs.’’

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Kudos to Oxbridge Academy’s boys and King’s Academy’s girls.

By the time Cueto’s boot ended the marathon, the King’s Academy boys team was long gone from the campus after staging its own crazed celebration that went on for a couple of minutes and filled with ecstatic epitaphs. At the final horn, the Thunderwolves players sprinted off the sidelines to mob the onfield heroes.

“Like I told The Palm Beach Post, we came here with a purpose, seeking revenge,’’ Dorsey said. “We’ve lost every year to the same team. We got sick of it. It’s amazing but we haven’t won it all yet.’’

A senior, Dorsey’s record against Benjamin stood at 0-4-1 entering Friday night’s battle.

“It makes me feel I’ve definitely progressed over the years – an obstacle I was finally able to overcome,’’ Dorsey said.

A native of Perth, Scotland, Benjamin boys coach Kris Steeves took the loss in gentlemanly spirit.

In his thick Scottish accent, Steeves said, “The occasion got to some of our boys. There’s not that much experience on this team for this kind of occasion. I feel we played the game not to lose as opposed to trying to win. We haven’t done that all year.’’

Next, Oxbridge Academy (11-6-2) faces Holy Trinity Episcopal of Melbourne in the regional finals. After losing to Benjamin in the district finals, 5-2, no one thought this team was destined to get that far. And then goalie Remi DeOrsey pulled off a shutout.

“I told our boys if we focus on defense, we can win this game,’’ Oxbridge coach Jonathan Hernandez said. “We kept them to a clean slate, which is tough to do against Benjamin.’’

While Dorsey had the night’s only standard goal, Colin Wade’s defense on Benjamin’s elite scorer Ford Cash was as big a key. The Thunderwolves changed their defensive strategy against Cash, putting more pressure on Wade.

“The last game we focused too much on stopping (Cash) and that’s why we lost,’’ Hernandez said.

Hernandez felt its prior regional win over St. John Paul provided the Thunderwolves momentum. “That gave us the hope we needed,’’ Hernandez said. “Our keeper had an excellent day like today and our backline did too.’’

In the first half, Dorsey gave the Thunderwolves the lead they wouldn’t relinquish, crushing the 20-year free kick past Benjamin goalie Gianluca Balzano.

“I was thinking whether I should play it for my teammates or go for the goal,’’ Dorsey said. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I figured I’d put the game in my hands and God was with me.’’

“Julien was clutch,’’ added Hernandez. “One of those kids who plays multiple sports at the school. He’s an athlete. I told him if he focused in, he’d get a goal for us.’’

Benjamin then got tight. “They scored a beautiful free kick and we couldn’t dig deep enough unfortunately,’ Steeves said. “When we play Oxford, it’s a big game, a rivalry game where form goes out the window. ‘’

And then it happened again in the nightcap with the girls took the soccer pitch on a rough night on Benjamin’s pristine campus.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Soccer: Oxbridge boys, King's girls pull off stunning upsets at Benjamin