Latest news with #Girls'Soccer
Miami Herald
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Lourdes' Veronica Aguilar is the Miami-Dade 7A-4A Girls' Soccer Player of the Year
Veronica Aguilar didn't have any trouble learning what it meant to be a girls' soccer player at Lourdes Academy. Lourdes is always one of the best teams, if not the best team, in Miami-Dade County and, as an underclassman, it's already easy for Aguilar to understand why. 'Lourdes soccer's super special because everyone really loves what they do,' the forward said. 'That really means a lot to underclassmen, and shows the legacy and standard that we have to set each year.' Only a sophomore, Aguilar is already helping to set that standard. After helping the Bobcats get back to the state championship after a rare absence from the title game in 2024, Aguilar is the Miami Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Player of the Year for Classes 7A-4A. After a solid freshman year with eight goals and seven assists, Aguilar broke out this year and finished the season with 17 goals and six assists, helping Lourdes get to the state championship game for the fifth time in six seasons. 'I improved the most in my attacking mindset, and going toward goal and finishing,' Aguilar said, 'and having that composure to finish under tight scenarios in big games.' Although they ultimately fell short of a Class 5A championship with a 2-1 loss to Ponte Vedra, the Bobcats remained the top team in Miami, going 9-0-1 against other teams from Dade County. With Aguilar leading the way, Lourdes is ready to finally break through again and end their championship drought in the next few years. The Bobcats have fallen short in each of their last four trips to the state championship, but they're already excited to try to hoist their first trophy since 2020 next year. 'Super excited for the seasons to come,' Aguilar said, 'and to keep building off of the standard that we set this year.'
Miami Herald
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Ransom's Boada and Lourdes' Fique are the Miami-Dade Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year
One of the two best teams in Miami-Dade County was a familiar face. The other was a newcomer to the upper echelon of Florida girls' soccer. After guiding each of their teams to the final four this year, Lourdes Academy's David Fique and Ransom Everglades' Antonio Boada are the Miami Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year. After a one year absence from the state championship, Lourdes returned to the title game for the fifth time in six seasons and got to the Class 5A championship by dominating all other competition in Miami. The Bobcats went 9-0-1 against their Miami-Dade opponents and only lost two games all year, both to eventual team state champions. Fique, the Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 7A-4A, has now been to the state championship in three of his four seasons as Lourdes' coach. He has been one of the Herald's Miami-Dade Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year in all four seasons leading the Bobcats. Fique was an assistant coach at Lourdes prior to taking over as coach in 2021 and was part of the Bobcats' last state title in 2020. Boada, meanwhile, got the Raiders to the state semifinals for the first time by steadying Ransom Everglades through the expected ups and downs. After they slumped through a three-game winless streak to start 2025, the Raiders went undefeated the rest of the way until falling in the Class 2A semifinals. This is Boada's first time as one of the Herald's Girls' Soccer Coaches of the Year. Boada, the Herald's Miami-Dade County Girls' Soccer Coach of the Year for Classes 3A-1A, has turned Ransom Everglades into a perennial postseason fixture in his three years running the program. This year was a culmination, but also maybe the start of something new.
