Doral Academy's Manuel Benen is the Miami Herald's Boys' Soccer 7A-4A Player of the Year
Dutch-born Manuel Benen grew up idolizing former Netherlands star Wesley Sneijder and dreaming of one day making his own mark in the sport of soccer.
This past season in his first season with state powerhouse Doral Academy, Benen had a major impact.
Benen scored 14 goals and dished out three assists to lead Doral to the state semis for the fifth consecutive season.
Benen, the Miami-Dade County Boys' Soccer Player of the Year for Classes 7A-4A, saved his best for last, even though the Firebirds came up short in the Class 7A semifinals. The senior scored two goals in his final game for Doral, helping the Firebirds get to penalty kicks before falling short against Lake Nona in a bid for a third straight state championship.
'Obviously, we wanted to win it all, but we went pretty far and a lot of us didn't really know each other in the beginning,' Benen said. 'We went pretty far and accomplished a lot.'
The Firebirds went to overtime or penalty kicks in each of their final three games this year and kept squeaking by, until the 7A semifinals. Although Doral won just two of its first eight games to start the season, the Firebirds went 7-2-1 in their last 10, with Benen scoring three goals in the final two games.
Benen said one of his biggest improvements this season was on the mental side of the game as he struck when he had scoring opportunities with more confidence.
'Finishing in the final third for sure was an area of improvement,' said Benen, who has yet to sign with a college.
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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
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3 days ago
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Miami Herald
02-06-2025
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New Doral Academy basketball coach. Plus lacrosse and beach volleyball
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Beach volleyball recap The final impact of South Florida teams in the FHSAA state's beach volleyball season occurred in the state tournament, which featured Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in 3A and Miami Westminster Christian in 1A. To reach state, Westminster Christian won the 4-1A region title by beating LaSalle 4-1, Boca Raton Christian 4-1 and West Palm Beach King's Academy 5-0. Prior, they beat LaSalle 5-0 and True North Academy 5-0 for the District 16-1A championship. In the state semifinals, Westminster Christian defeated Jacksonville Episcopal (17-7) 5-0 to advance to the state finals, where the Warriors lost to Tampa Berkley Prep. Entering those state finals, Westminster Christian (19-1) was the top ranked team in the state. Tampa Berkley Prep (22-0) was ranked second. In the region championship win against King's Academy, the No.1 pair from Westminster Christian (Zoey Matias and Gigi Artiles) won 21-18, 21-11. 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En route to winning the state title, Jupiter (16-1) defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 3-0 in a state semifinal. The state's third place Raiders finished the season 19-5. They are: No.1 pair (Emma Bear and Alexa Raymond); No.2 (Leah Novatne and Madeline Meltz); No.3 (Dior Ferguson and Emily Rosinsky); No.4 (Addison Steinberg and Emi Bernal); No.5 (Gianna Gorsin and Karina Andresky). The Raiders also include Abigail Scalzitti, Isabella Vergara, Camila Ortiz, Caitlyn Ward, Kamila Alvarado, Ava Alberani, Daniela Alvarez, Laura Grubor. Send high school sports results For high school and middle school athletes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, if you have summer sports results and top performers (with stats), email hssports@ They will run in the newspaper and online. Photos accepted, too. No deadline. Send after the game, the next day or weekly. You will be alerted when it will appear in the newspaper and online. New athletic directors, coaches For high schools in Broward and Miami-Dade, if you have new sports administration and/or coaching hires to announce, email hssports@ --- Roundup compiled by Jim Varsallone jvarsallone@
