Pirates overcome red card to defeat FPC

It had been a rough start to the season for the Matanzas boys soccer team.

And things didn't seem to be getting any better at Flagler Palm Coast on Monday, Nov. 21, when Sebastian Bernardi converted a penalty kick in the first half to tie the score at 1-1, and then was handed a red card for taunting.

Bernardi was trying to recreate the celebration moves of French soccer star Kylian Mbappe´, Matanzas coach Beto Aguilar said.

"I told him, high school is different. High school referees are a different breed," Aguilar said.

But despite playing a man down the rest of the way, the Pirates rallied for a 2-1 victory for their first win of the season.

"I knew the team had it in them," Aguilar said. "We went down a player against New Smyrna Beach and we didn't handle it very well. The boys lost their composure. It was good to see tonight that we still played our style and pulled out the win. We told the players, we have to play with discipline and passion. If we put those two together, good things will happen."

The Pirates scored the go-ahead goal with 6:46 remaining off a free kick as sophomore defender Sebastian DeLeon got free just outside the 6-yard box and headed in Nedas Jaronis' cross.

"I saw I lost my mark, and I just went for it," DeLeon said. "It was a big confidence boost for me. The whole game I was just beating myself up."

Senior goalkeeper Ben Kopach made several key saves for Matanzas (1-2-1). None were bigger than his tipping a shot over the crossbar with 57 seconds left. Eight seconds later he grabbed a ball in the air amid a crowd of players.

"When you're up 2-1 against your rival team, especially if you're a man down, you have to be on your game," Kopach said. 

"We forced the best out of Ben Kopach," said FPC coach Ramtin Amiri. "He made some wonderful saves."

The Bulldogs fell to 3-1 after getting out to their best start since 2014.

"A red card is unlucky. You might not agree with the refs, you're going to be disgruntled, but you can't let it consume you. This shows they can be successful even if they go down a man."

— BETO AGUILAR, Matanzas boys soccer coach 

"I feel like the man down gave them an extra bit of life," Amiri said. "Our boys pressed hard. They knew they left it all on the field, and they weren't upset."

Aron Binkley gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead off a penalty kick in the first half. A few minutes later, Bernardi scored the first goal of the season for the Pirates, who could not find the net against New Smyrna Beach, Taylor or DeLand.

"Last year, we had three guys who could create (Joseph 'Fuji' Powell, Nick Ferrer and Andrew Alvarez). This year we have to make our opportunities count," Aguilar said. 

This is the second season in a row that FPC and Matanzas will be meeting just once. Last year, they tied 2-2 at Matanzas.

"When we tied them, we knew we had to win this year," Kopach said. 

To do that, they had to overcome FPC's man advantage.

"A red card is unlucky," Aguilar said. "You might not agree with the refs, you're going to be disgruntled, but you can't let it consume you. This shows they can be successful even if they go down a man. They played with better connection than they did against New Smyrna."

FPC, meanwhile, won't dwell on the loss. 

"This was just another game," Amiri said. "We have Pine Ridge next (Nov. 29 on the road). We'll work hard over the Thanksgiving break and try to get our fourth win of the season."

Matanzas will host district-rival Menendez on Nov. 29.