Berean Christian girls got the win on Monday. The boys will hope to follow suit on Tuesday.
Berean Christian has quite the one-two punch when it comes to the school's soccer programs this year.
The top-seeded girls squad (14-4) started off their regional run with an 8-0 mercy ruling over Boca Raton Christian (9-8), featuring a pair of four-goal efforts by Isa Vizcarra-Flores and Kat Jochem.
For the girls, home-field advantage is paramount, and the fact that Berean Christian has secured that for the regional tournament is a massive boon. Monday was just one example of why.
"It means you're going to be home, and that is a huge advantage, especially with 1A because 1A play in different quality facilities," head coach Jon Iverson said. "Having our home-field advantage is huge. It gives the girls more rest in the day. It has a crowd that is supposed to be on your side. And you're used to it."
"I would say last year, if we'd played the [regional] game we lost at home, we 100 percent would have won."
Berean Christian's girls program has been strong in recent years under Iverson. The Bulldogs are making their fourth straight regional appearance and have a 57-21-2 record in that span. Berean was knocked out in the second round the last two seasons.
Monday's 8-0 win will be a tough act to follow, but the No. 2 seeded boys (14-3-1) will try to do the same on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when they play host to No. 7 Archimedean (11-6-2).
Kat Jochem sniffles, she sniffles, she scores
Berean Christian's Kat Jochem was a bit under the weather when she took the field on Monday afternoon, and she says that's part of why the team put her up top.
She rewarded the Bulldogs with a four-goal performance, combining with Isa Vizcarra-Flores on three of them.
"I'm sick, so the goal was to keep me a little higher, and good thing that we did," she said with a laugh. "Me and Isa had really good connection."
Jochem lauded the chemistry between her and Vizcarra-Flores as approaching the kind of connection you see "in a pro soccer game," especially when her midfield partner was setting her up with through balls and crosses that the forward could one-tap into the net.
"It was magic," the junior scorer said.
If that's how she plays when under the weather, defenses would do well to be wary.
Isa Vizcarra-Flores embodies Bulldogs' fast pass-happy play style
It took less than one half of play for Isa Vizcarra-Flores to net her own hat trick, which would later become a four-point effort as the engine of the Bulldogs' attack.
The speedy, never-stop-running attacking midfielder provided beautiful set-up play in Monday's win, frequently out-dribbling her man coverage and threading the needle through gaps with her strong passing.
"We are focused on our passing game," Iverson said. "We knew that we can pass around just about any team. We have a couple big players, but we also have a lot of small players, so our goal is to avoid a lot of contact and to make good passes and open ourselves up for big shots."
Vizcarra-Flores had accounted for just one assist this season heading into regional play but saw that number skyrocket in the Bulldogs' first-round state playoff victory.
"I think it's definitely about trust in your teammate," Vizcarra-Flores said. "I know [Kat's] an awesome shooter. When I'm running down the field, I had to make the decision on, 'Do I keep running down the field or do I pass it now?' She was in my line of vision and yell 'Kat' as loud as I could and trust that she got it. And she got it every time. It's a power duo."
While her vision on the pitch was admirable against Boca Raton Christian, the Bulldogs are also going to continue to lean on her motor working the midfield.
"For me it's definitely a mindset," Vizcarra-Flores said. "Size-wise, I'm not the strongest, so my mindset is that I've got to beat everyone else out in everything else with my mind and my speed, and be able to get to the ball no matter what."
Berean Christian boys embark on regional run Tuesday
Both the first matchup and a potential regional matchup could be "wild cards" for Berean Christian's boys since film is hard to come by and there is no roster for their opponent, Archimedean, 24 hours before game-time.
But if the Bulldogs are to play for their strengths, they'll be able to rely on a well-rounded team, featuring a stout defense led by goalkeeper Adrian Page.
"We graduated three seniors last year, which is less than usual," head coach Luke Schartner said. "We knew we had a lot of strength returning. The boys ended up winning a lot of those games that we thought could go either way. We've been well-rounded and we defend well. I think we've only allowed 11 goals to this point, which is a testament to Adrian, our goalkeeper, who's had a lot of really good games."
Berean Christian's boys are making their fifth straight appearance in regionals. The Bulldogs lost in the second round the last three seasons.
A tough schedule that to this point has included Highlands Christian, King's Academy, Cardinal Newman, and juggernaut Pine means that Berean Christian are battle-tested ahead of the state tournament.
"For the first time in awhile, we didn't get blown out by anybody," Schartner said. "The big giant in 1A has been Pine School for awhile now, and we held it to a 2-0 game. It showed the boys that they could hang in there against arguably the best 1A team in the state."
Game-time against Archimedean is set for 3 p.m. on Tuesday at home for Berean Christian's boys.
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Berean Christian's soccer teams enjoying top regional seeds
Category: General Sports
