January 29, 2024
Mount Dora High Boys Soccer Team Takes On Davenport in District-Semis
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Boys Soccer Team Takes On Davenport in District-Semis
The Mount Dora High School Hurricanes secured a 4-1 victory against the Eustis Panthers. They will now face Davenport in the Semi-Finals, with a chance to advance to the District Championship. The Hurricanes have had a successful season, improving to 12-9-1 and extending their season at least through the weekend. With a 5-10 record for Eustis, their season has likely come to a close.
Mount Dora High School scored four goals, with Nolan Bucklew, Harry Calderon, Deiner Vitora, and Andy Perez taking control of the game. While the Hurricanes dominated possession, Eustis put up a fight in this win-or-go-home scenario.
Mount Dora High’s Aydan Smith played well in goal, making 5 saves. Smith, a sophomore, has accumulated 1,570 minutes of play this season, making 86 saves and allowing 46 goals. As a key player, the Mount Dora Hurricanes’ defense will need to do everything they can to protect him in the upcoming match against Davenport.
Davenport enters the game with a 12-3 season record. The Broncos previously defeated Eustis 5-0. If that outcome is indicative of Davenport’s performance against Eustis, then this should be a closely contested matchup. Mount Dora High is well-matched against this team. Davenport is led by Emanuel Ramirez, who has scored 14 goals this season. They also boast a robust defense, with goalkeeper Noah Hernandez facing under 30 shots and making 22 saves this season.
If Mount Dora can find a way to penetrate Davenport’s defense, they will rely on Bucklew, Calderon, and Cirilio, each with 10 goals this season. It promises to be an exciting contest. The game is scheduled to be played at Davenport on Monday evening at 7 pm.
Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
