Downtown Doral’s Victor Villalobos (black jersey) battles through MAST’s defense on Tuesday during the Dolphins’ 4-0 win over the Makos in a Region 4-3A semifinal at Tropical Park.
Andre Fernandez
afernandez@miamiherald.com
This week, we continue a feature where we ask you to vote for the best high school varsity performer of the week (in Broward and Miami-Dade counties).
This week includes nominees from high school soccer.
Take our poll below to cast your vote. The poll will be open until Thursday, Feb. 26 at around 10 p.m. You may vote as often as you like until then.
Here are the candidates:
NOTE: You should see a Miami Herald box underneath this note for you to type Yes and click Submit. That will ignite the actual poll to vote.
Luis Ayala, Westminster Christian soccer: the senior scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Palmer Trinity for the Region 4-2A boys’ soccer title. He also scored in regulation during a state semifinal shootout loss to eventual state champ Holy Trinity Melbourne.
Scarlett Baur, Palmer Trinity soccer: the senior had 2 goals and 3 assists in a Class 2A girls’ soccer state semifinal win over Providence and pior recorded 1 goal and 2 assists in a 3-1 win over Ransom Everglades for the Region 4-2A title.
Giandavid De La Hoz, BridgePrep Village Green soccer: the junior had 1 goal and 2 assists in a dramatic 3-1 double-overtime win over Highlands Christian for the Region 4-1A boys’ soccer title.
Alejandra Duran, Cypress Bay soccer: the junior goalkeeper made a few nice saves in the second half to preserve a 2-1 win over Wellington for the Region 4-7A girls’ soccer title.
Reagan Hood, Cardinal Gibbons soccer: the sophomore scored the winner a 1-0 victory over North Broward Prep in a Class 3A girls’ soccer state semifinal. Prior, she accounted for a team-high 13 steals in a 3-1 win over LaSalle for the Region 3-4A title.
Nick Siman, Columbus soccer: the senior stepped into the keeper position late in the season and came up huge as he stopped 3 of 4 shots in a penalty kick shootout to help the Explorers upset Cypress Bay for the Region 4-7A boys’ soccer title.
Juliana Soto, American Heritage soccer: the freshman had 1 goal and 1 assist in a 4-1 victory over Somerset Academy Pembroke Pines to win the Region 4-4A girls’ soccer title.
Felipe Tobon, St. Thomas Aquinas soccer: the senior stepped up with both assists in both overtime periods in a 2-1 double overtime win over Monarch for the Region 5-6A boys’ soccer title.
Alex Vanhaeren, American Heritage soccer: the junior goalkeeper made 2 big saves in a 4-3 shootout including the match clincher in the fifth round of PKs as the Patrioits won the Region 4-4A boys’ soccer title with a victory over Mater Lakes Academy.
Victor Villalobos, Downtown Doral soccer: the senior scored in four consecutive playoff games (region semifinal, region final, state semifinal, state final) to lead the Dolphins to the state championship. He had 2 goals including the first (the winner) in a 5-0 win over Somerset Academy Boynton Beach in the Class 3A boys’ soccer state championship. He scored the winner in a 4-1 victory over Cocoa Beach in the state semifinal. He scored in a 3-1 win over SLAM for the Region 4-3A title. He also had 2 goals in a 4-0 region semifinal win over MAST.
Miami Herald
Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too — mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) — sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel).
Support my work with a digital subscription