Arnold defeats Pembroke Pines 4-2 on penalties, advance to Class 5A state championship
No. 1 Arnold boys soccer advanced to the Class 5A state championship after a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over No. 4 Pembroke Pines Tuesday. Goalie Josh Chandler made two outstanding saves to punch the Marlins ticket to their third state title game in four years where they will face No. 2 Jesuit March 1.
Arnold seniors Cricket Lebdaoui, Stone Hatton, Sander Richard and Felix Riemer scored their penalties in a move Marlins coach Jonah Hammond said was an opportunity they deserved to take.
"They have been in these situations before, and in what could have been their last game I am letting them decide whether we go on or not," Hammond said.
Unique strategies lifting Arnold Second half playing a big part in Arnold boys soccer ascendance
Journey to state final 'They had to come to our house': Arnold soccer avenges past playoff loss to reach Final Four
In what was a physical game from the first whistle Arnold had chances, especially inside the box but was just one extra pass or one extra touch away from finding the back of the net. Hammond said he came into this game ready to implement some strategies that he hadn't used all season.
"We came in with a different strategy based around what we have seen of Pembroke Pines, which caused us to take a little bit longer to figure things out," Arnold coach Jonah Hammond said. "Knowing how good these boys play and have played, this was one of the worst games we have played all year."
One of the strategies implemented and saw a great deal of impact in the second half was the advancement of senior center-back Felix Riemer into a more midfield attacking role.
"We felt like we could move Dom (Castellanos) back there and move Felix up because he is so good at creating," Hammond said.
Pembroke Pines made a goalkeeper change for the penalty shootout, opting for Ryan Romero in place of starter Massimo Lopez-Malo. The quick switch did not surprise Hammond who said Arnold had the better keeper no matter who the opposition had in goal.
"He's a big guy and it's going to be hard for him to get down low really quick, Hammond said. "I told our guys if we could put enough pace on the ball and in the corner then we would be good."
The Marlins penalty takers keyed in on this advantage with three penalties finding the bottom corners and one down the middle after an early Romero dive.
Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Arnold marlins boys soccer defeated pembroke pines 4-2 in penalty shootout to face jesuit March 1st
