BOSTON – With overtime looming, Latin Academy dug down and capitalized on a late corner to win their second straight Boston City League boys’ soccer title.
Junior Yussef Oulalite headed the ball in off a deflection to boost the Dragons over Boston International 3-2 at Madison Park High Saturday morning.
“We worked on set pieces for like an hour yesterday,” said Dragons coach Patrick Mudie about the late tally. Defending, we gave up the first one of the game, but a lot of repetitions and we have a lot of quality guys.”
“It’s crazy,” Oulalite said about winning his second straight BCL title. “We’ve gone through a lot of hard times this season and a lot of ups and downs. We lost to (Boston International) two times and it feels amazing to beat them today.”
The tally came in stoppage time and was the second goal of the second half as senior Santiago Vanegas also connected on a header in the 57th minute.
The first half was dominated by Boston International (16-2) as they delivered seven shots on goal, including a tally for junior Ruben Barros off a corner in the ninth minute.
Latin Academy (13-5) netted the equalizer on their first real scoring opportunity in the 26th minute as sophomore Giovanni Waterman netted one home to make it a 1-1 contest.
The Lions ended up taking back the lead in the 38th as sophomore Jerry Registe hit a strike from 25 yards out to make it 2-1 at the half.
Senior Santiago Gutierrez came up huge in net with eight of his 12 saves in the first half as he weathered the storm from the Lions in the first 20 minutes.
“It was a challenging season and it definitely wasn’t easy,” said the BCL Most Valuable Player. “Being able to come out and perform well is always the best feeling because you know it isn’t just for yourself, but for your team.”
In the Boston City League girls’ soccer championship, a strong defense and potent offense led by a hat trick for junior Lucy Osowiecki was more than enough in a 5-0 victory for Latin Academy over East Boston. It is the second straight BCL title for the Dragons.
“It’s been an honor coaching these girls,” said Latin Academy coach Phi Nguyen. “These girls have done most of the hard work. There’s still more. There’s playoffs. Overall, I am loving it.”
Osowiecki got the scoring started as she netted a penalty kick in the fourth minute to put Latin Academy (11-3-3) in the driver’s seat 1-0 over East Boston (12-4-1).
Osowiecki added another in the 26th minute as she dribbled down the length of the field and booted it in from about 15 yards out across to the other side of the goal.
“It’s nice,” Osowiecki said about winning the BCL title for the second straight year. “It’s exhilarating”
Senior Lilah Fleischer added a tally in the 33rd minute as Latin Academy led 3-0 at the half.
Osowiecki added her third tally after eluding a couple of defenders just outside the box in the 46th minute. Mariana Vanegas finished off the scoring with a tally in the 57th minute.
“We have so many attacking weapons,” Nguyen said. “Everyone is an attacking weapon on the team.”
In net, eighth grader Madelyn Andrade needed just four saves as the defense came up big for the Dragons. Ella Curran ended up winning Most Valuable Player.
