20-03-2025
Mater Lakes and Florida Christian coaches are Dade Boys' Soccer Coaches of the Year
Two new programs crashed the final four party this year.
For the first time in school history, Mater Lakes Academy reached the state semifinals and the Bears came up just short of their first state title, falling short in the final. For the first time since 2005, Florida Christian made it back to the state semis.
At the end of a pair of breakthrough seasons, the Bears' and Patriots' coaches are the Miami Herald's Miami-Dade County Boys' Soccer Coaches of the Year.
At Mater Lakes, Davide Favaro, who led St. Brendan to its first state title in 2022, has turned the Bears into a contender, too, and to earn honors as the Miami-Dade County Boys' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 7A-4A. At Florida Christian, Fernando Hernandez led an astonishing in-season turnaround to earn honors as the Dade County Boys' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 3A-1A.
Before Favaro took over in 2022, the Bears had never even been to a region championship. After missing the Florida High School Athletic Association tournament in Favaro's first year, Mater Lakes reached its first region final in 2024, then got to the state title game for the first time this year, racking up 23 wins and losing only twice.
The Bears fell behind by three goals in the Class 4A championship and couldn't quite battle back, falling 4-2 to Naples Barron Collier in their first ever trip to the state championship game.
'I'm very proud of my boys, they have been amazing,' Favaro said after the loss. 'Our team has been amazing. That's all I can say, and I am very proud of my team. I couldn't speak more positively about them.'
The Patriots, meanwhile, finished the regular season with a losing record before going on an improbable run to the final four in the postseason.
Florida Christian hadn't even made the FHSAA playoffs since 2010, but won its district tournament to grab the No. 6 seed in Region 4-2A, then ripped off three more wins to make a long-awaited return to the state semifinals.
The Patriots struck first in the Class 2A semifinals, but ultimately fell short with a 2-1 loss to Melbourne Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy.
'As much as I'm hurting for these boys right now, there's nothing but a proud feeling for what they've accomplished over these last few weeks,' Hernandez said after the loss. 'It's an extremely difficult moment right now for everyone. All of us will go through it together, feel it and learn from it going forward. There's nothing to feel ashamed of or feel bad about. Everybody did their part, we just couldn't quite finish it.'
