Soccer teams improving at St. Brendan High

By Tracey Taylor - St. Brendan HS

MIAMI | An improving boys’ team and a girls’ team that made it to the district playoffs are all good omens for the future of soccer at St. Brendan High School.

Although the boys’ team finished with a losing record � 5-10 � they finished better than last year and had their best district record � 4-3 � in years. Playing in a district that has a few powerhouse teams, the Sabres managed to advance to the second round of districts, losing 7-1 to district champion Gulliver.

“We are developing a soccer program that we hope will be strong in the coming years,” said head coach J. C. Manjarres.

Senior forward Gabriel Vasquez, a four-year team member, said “the team played well together, we were a close knit family and played our hearts out in every game.”

The Sabres will be in the process of rebuilding as they have lost 13 seniors to graduation the last two years.

Defense/midfield player Peter Leon, a junior, said he is looking forward to next season. “We had a pretty good season and definitely grew as a team. We learned a lot and hopefully next season we will pick up right where we left off.”

The Lady Sabres, meanwhile, finished 16-5-1, their second straight year with 16 wins. They lost 1-0 to an undefeated Gulliver team in the district playoffs.

During the season, the Lady Sabres defeated or tied a number of schools which made the Greater Miami Athletic Conference tournament and/or the regional playoffs, including Terra, American, Mater Lakes, Ransom, and Palmer Trinity.

The team was led by its six seniors: forward Adri Prieto broke the school record with 28 goals; Mallory Ryan allowed less than one goal a game and has the school record for total wins; twins Alex and Andy Alvarado provided great leadership and made up half of a very good defense; Nikki Dennis scored 7 goals and had 10 assists as an outside midfielder and outside defender; and Sarah Shaheen, a newcomer, contributed quality minutes as an outside midfielder.

The team’s second leading scorer was sophomore Alexa Dussaq, who had 18 goals despite missing 10 games. This year’s varsity squad also included eight freshmen, including three � defender Eli Hussain, forward Mercy Cordovi, and midfielder Adri Diaz � who were frequent starters. That group of underclassmen provides the Lady Sabres with a good talent pool going forward.