Inspired by ailing schoolmate, Gulliver dominates NSU to secure return to state
There are always motivating factors in sports like pursuits of championships or personal milestones.
The Gulliver boys' soccer team has them in abundance as it chases a third consecutive state championship and 10th overall.
But this season, it's also been very much about Max.
Who's Max?
'Since the beginning of the season, this kid, Max, who is one of the younger students at our school, would come to every single game and practice,' Gulliver senior Nicolas Pineros said. 'So we got to know him and found out he has been battling cancer.'
Max Taylor is a sophomore at Gulliver Prep and honorary member of the two-time reigning state champions.
On Wednesday, Taylor was undergoing chemotherapy and couldn't watch the Raiders punch their ticket back to the state final four following a 2-0 victory over Davie NSU University School in the Region 4-3A final at Sean Taylor Memorial Field.
But the Raiders made sure his presence was felt.
Each player and some coaches and trainers wore white T-shirts with the name 'Max' on top of the number 77 - Taylor's favorite jersey number - before the game.
'It's really inspiring how much effort he puts into being here for every practice,' Pineros said. 'He's the earliest one here a lot of times and for the games. He's part of the team. He's not just a random kid. It feels great to get this win and hopefully he can come with us to states.'
Pineros and Tomas Bellatin made sure Gulliver could head back to DeLand next week when each scored goals in the first half.
Gulliver (19-2-2) will play Delray American Heritage on Monday at 1 p.m. in a Class 3A state semifinal at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand on Tuesday.
Less than a week after surviving an upset by SLAM Miami in the semifinals in penalty kicks, the Raiders took control early when Pineros scored by putting back a rebound that followed a header attempt by Taro Ochi.
Bellatin scored 18 minutes later on a cross from Pineros.
'Last game we had to play until the last whistle. But today from the beginning, we went 100 percent and we knew what we had to get done and we were able to get two goals in the back of the net,' Pineros said.
That was enough to put away the shorthanded Sharks (16-4-1), who were without top scorer Raul Leyva due to a one-game red card suspension drawn in their regional semifinal win over Downtown Doral, and Samuel Osorio, who was out with an ankle injury.
'I was very proud of their effort,' NSU coach Thiago Oliveira said. 'If I'm not mistaken, the first two clear-cut chances came from us and that's in spite of not having those two guys. That gave me a really good feeling, which I didn't have during warmups.'
This has been a season of perseverance for Gulliver, which graduated 23 seniors from last year's championship team. But the Raiders know it pales in comparison to the perseverance shown by Taylor, who has inspired them on another title run that now stands just two victories from coming to fruition.
'Somehow it gets more and more meaningful every time. This season, seeing the young boys develop shows a lot about the program,' Gulliver coach Scott Davidson said. 'It's a little easier to get into every tackle and run harder when you're tired, a little easier to do everything when you're inspired like these kids were today. We played all 22 guys in there today and I'm proud of that because they all felt like they were playing for Max.
'I think the last game (being down to the wire) made us feel good about ourselves because we knew we could fight through difficult circumstances and in a lot of ways you could say the same things about Max.'
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