By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge Boys Soccer Win State Championship!
The Knights Pull It Off!
East Ridge has won the State Championship for the first time in school history! Congratulations to all the players, coaches and staff on this enormous accomplishment! We knew East Ridge was good this year, but just didn’t know how good! Now we know! East Ridge came into the game taking on the heavy favorite Newsome from Lithia Florida.
Newsome came into the game 21-2 on the season having only dropped 2 games at the very start of the season. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing for the Wolves. However this is a game that The Knights were not going to lose and they came in and played like champions should.
The first goal ultimately became a game winner as Max Kempany scored the initial goal while Amir Taylor added two more goals and The Knights would ultimately win the game by a final score of 3-0. Nicholas Aquilino played his heart out as he has done the entire playoffs and that allowed the offense for the Knights to go to work effectively. They say defense wins championships and that was certainly the case for these playoffs.
The Playoff run for the Knights was ultimately sealed with a championship. The Wolves tried their best and it was a close game early until that first goal midway through the first half. From that point forward it was as if the Wolves got the wind taken from their sails. The Knights just got on a totally different level and ran away with the game.
(East Ridge Fans Show Up In Full Support!)
This is the first time that East Ridge has ever made it past the regional finals. This was a game the Knights simply were not going to lose. You don’t know when you’ll ever be back here so you have to make the most of it while your here. What an incredible run it was. The fan base showed up in force for the Knights. Parents, fans and family members all packed the stands in Deland to witness greatness.
(Heads coach John Quirk stands with his assistant coaching staff.)
You’re 2023 FHSAA District 7 Soccer Champions!
(The 2022/2023 team will forever be remembered as giving East Ridge it’s first State Championship!)
Photos Provided By
East Ridge High School
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.
