Stallions look to go 30-0

Heritage hosts Dade Christian in regional final

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Being perfect isn’t always easy, as the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick know. And that’s something American Heritage-Delray girls soccer coach Steve Burgess and his team have had to get used to.

The Stallions are 29-0-0 heading into their Class 2A regional final against Dade Christian, which will be played at 4 p.m. at American Heritage Friday.

“The TV media attention, that’s been very different,” Burgess said. “We’ve had three news stations out here. These are distractions, but you’re happy they’re not too distracting.”

As American Heritage beat opponent after opponent and vaulted to the No. 1 ranking in the country, Burgess was happy his team had some company in its quest.

“Obviously, you don’t want to compare a professional team to a little high school team, but the nice thing for us is the Patriots,” he said. “The fact that they’re going through it and they’re stressing how 16-0 is great, but business has not been completed. I think that’s true with us. We’ve got that extra bit of motivation.”

The Stallions have shut out their last nine opponents, and despite winning their last three matches by a combined score of 26-0, Burgess had not been happy with his team’s play until Tuesday’s 8-0 rout of the South Florida HEAT.

“It was a completely different performance than what they showed (the previous two games),” he said. “You hope they do what they need to do.”

Burgess understands the ebb and flow of a season, and he realizes these girls are 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds, not professional athletes. He knows there will be peaks and valleys, but he still demands that his players compete at their highest level each match.

The way the girls have handled the pressure of perfection has impressed him.

“The girls have remained remarkably grounded throughout the whole circus,” he said. “There’s no real looking beyond Friday.”

That’s because American Heritage and Dade Christian have met in the regional playoffs in the last two seasons, and last year the Stallions eked out a 2-0 win in Miami against a fairly young team. That and the surprise loss by Heritage’s sister school in Plantation to PineCrest earlier this week lead Burgess to believe his girls will not be thinking about Lockhart Friday.

“That should show that anything can happen,” he said.

And if the Stallions should get past Dade Christian, the likely opponent in the state semifinal would be St. John’s, the team that defeated Heritage for the state title last year. In fact, Burgess said last year St. John’s did something no team has ever done against the Stallions – beat them twice in one season.

So the girls have plenty of motivation besides the quest for perfection to continue their remarkable streak. And Burgess has found the journey does have its advantages.

“It’s fantastic for the school,” he said. “It’s nice that a lot of the younger kids have shown a real interest and maybe that will start them playing the sport.”