After taking a season off to play travel soccer, senior Mario Simoes to returned to Fort Lauderdale High School this season with vengeance.
The talented striker finished the year with 19 goals and seven assists in just 12 games and helped lead the L’s to the regional final where they ultimately fell to Doral Academy, 3-2 (3-0 PKs).
“We had a great season, especially for our senior players,” Simoes said. “It wasn’t the result that we thought we could get…we thought we could have gone farther like the state finals like we did our sophomore year. It is what it is. We had fun and we played well.”
After helping Fort Lauderdale finish state runner-up in his sophomore year, Simoes opted not to play high school to concentrate on playing club soccer and attending showcase tournaments.
Fort Lauderdale coach Mourinho Snipe gushed over the contributions made by Simoes during his L’s career.
“Mario is a natural goal scorer with excellent tactical awareness hence the reason why he was our starting striker in his freshman and sophomore year,” Snipe said. “Unfortunately, he didn’t play his junior year due to club commitments.
“This season Mario not only inspired the team with his goal scoring abilities, but he was a true example off the field as a leader, work ethic and discipline,” Snipe said.
Snipe said he will remember how connected the team was this year. He said they knew it was their last chance to come away with a state championship.
“We were all focused on this one thing,” Simoes said. “We came together with everything and that is the family part about soccer.”
Fort Lauderdale cruised to a 5-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas to win the district title and followed that up with a 2-1 win over the Raiders in the regional semifinal.
“I think our district finals this year is what stands out for me,” Simoes said. “I didn’t play last year, and we lost in PKs to St. Thomas in the district finals, so we were really focused this year to win it.
Simoes said he would like to have a professional career. His father played professionally for 17 years in Brazil.
“He teaches me a lot,” Simoes said. “He tells me after every game what I could do better, and we practice a lot.”
