HIGH-SCHOOL

Marcello Maffei's overtime goal lifts Gulf Coast boys soccer team to third state title

Carl Kotala
Special to the Naples Daily News

DELAND – It’s been a few years since the Gulf Coast Sharks have been able to hoist the boys soccer state championship trophy.

That’s what made Saturday’s celebration that much sweeter.

Sophomore forward Marcello Maffei scored with 2:04 remaining in the first overtime period as the Sharks defeated the Plant Panthers 1-0 in overtime at the Class 7A state title game Saturday afternoon at Spec Martin Stadium.

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“That was a championship game,” Sharks coach Bryan Billingsley said. “Anyone that’s seen a championship game … that could have gone either way about seven different times.”

It’s the third state championship in program history for the Sharks (20-3-2), who are the only boys or girls soccer team from Collier County to win a state title.

Gulf Coast’s previous state titles came in 2013 and 2018, but after tasting gold that season, the Sharks didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2019 and 2020.

Plant (18-4-1), meanwhile, was making its first state title game appearance and its first trip to the state tournament since 2013.

Gulf Coast's Marcello Maffei (center) is mobbed by his teammates after scoring a goal with 2:04 remaining in the first overtime period during Saturday's Class 7A boys soccer state championship game against Tampa Plant at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. Maffei's goal gave the Sharks a 1-0 win and the program's third state title.

After having to wait out a rain delay that saw the game start 35 minutes later than scheduled, both teams played like it was their championship to take Saturday. And the tension only kept rising as the clock wound down with no score.

That is until Maffei was able to break through as the Sharks were playing with a man advantage after a Plant player was sent off with a blue card with 8:04 remaining in the first overtime.

“Noah (Nassberg) played me a long ball, I bodied the kid off the ball and I just first-time hit it,” said Maffei, a sophomore who was Gulf Coast’s leading scorer this season.

Though Gulf Coast had a 1-0 lead, the Sharks still had to play another 10-minute overtime period and nearly saw that lead slip away when Plant had a pair of point-blank shots – one which nearly crossed the line – but both times junior goalkeeper Henry Lewis and the defense were able to come up big.

Gulf Coast goalkeeper Henry Lewis goes high to knock the ball away from a pair of Plant players hoping to get their heads on the ball during Saturday afternoon's Class 7A state championship boys soccer game at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

Lewis, who was splitting time in goal at the start of the season, was credited with five saves.

“We didn’t miss a beat once Henry came in,” Billingsley said. “He’s been amazing.”

The first 20 minutes saw each team get several possessions deep into their opponent’s end, but the only quality shot came on a Plant corner kick that was blocked by Lewis and a rebound shot by Plant hit off the crossbar.

The second 20 minutes was dominated by the Panthers, who had several quality chances turned away by Lewis and the Gulf Coast defense.

The Sharks opened the second half with a quick scoring opportunity as Maffei tried to flick the ball over the head of Plant goalkeeper Yannick Parkes, who came charging out and had the ball hit off his chest.

Gulf Coast senior midfielder Noah Nassberg goes up for a header against Plant during Saturday afternoon's Class 7A state championship boys soccer game at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand.

Moments later, Plant had a big scoring chance, but another great save by Lewis turned the Panthers away.

That’s the way it went for much of the game as both defenses came up big every time they were pressed.

Saturday’s title was a somewhat fitting conclusion to what has been a wild ride for the Sharks in recent years.

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After winning their last state title in 2018, Gulf Coast went 5-10-5 in 2018-19 and 6-9-5 last season, missing the playoffs both times. The Sharks turned things around in a big way this season, starting out the year 8-0-2 under Billingsley.

An assistant coach at Gulf Coast for 15 seasons, Billingsley is in his second year as the head of the Sharks program after the previous coach Alan Scott became the school’s athletic director.

Now Billingsley, and all the seniors who were freshmen on that 2018 championship team (some of them were called up for the playoffs), have a title they can truly call their own.

Gulf Coast players react moments after being handed the Class 7A boys soccer state championship trophy Saturday. Marcello Maffei's goal with 2:04 remaining in the first overtime period gave the Sharks a 1-0 victory over Tampa Plant at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand. It's the third state title for the Gulf Coast boys program.

It was quite a day, quite a season for Gulf Coast seniors Marco Barrera, Juan Martinez de los Reyes, Noah Nassberg, Oscar Lascano, Nemo Chibende, Ethan Barbier, Joaquin Dominguez, Yeremi Tatis and Alberto Tinedo.

For them, Saturday’s win was big not only because it brought them a state championship medal.

“We wanted to leave our own legacy at this school,” said Martinez, a senior captain. “We didn’t want to leave it up to other people’s legacy. We wanted to build our own legacy.

“We wanted to play with everything. And we won. We’re state champions. We left it on the field, every second.”