Parkdale High School’s boys soccer team won its first game in the Class 4A South Region 2 tournament on Oct. 24, just four days after capturing its first Prince George’s County championship with a 5–1 victory over Oxon Hill High School on Oct. 20.
The county championship marked a historic milestone for the Panthers. They finished the regular season undefeated with a 12–0 record and earned a first-round bye in the regional tournament.
“We’re going to keep the intensity as high as possible,” head coach William Sama said after the county victory. “We’re going to even step it up a notch. We’re going straight into the regional semifinals.”
After losing in the regional finals in each of the previous two years, the Panthers entered this season determined to bring home a championship.
“We’ve lost in the regional championship back-to-back years,” Sama said. “They were younger, still good, but the nerves got to them.”
Sama said the players’ growth and experience contributed to their success this season. “As they’re getting older, they’re learning more and more about the game,” he said.
Parkdale had a season to remember. The team scored 56 goals and allowed only 9 throughout the year.
The Panthers’ most impressive performance came in September, when they defeated Suitland High School 13–0. From that point, they maintained their momentum all the way to the county championship.
Their defense was just as formidable as their offense. In 12 games, Parkdale recorded six shutouts and allowed only nine goals.
Despite winning the county championship, the Panthers took no time off. They advanced to the regional semifinals and defeated Charles Herbert Flowers High School. With that win, the team moves on to the regional finals on Oct. 28 to face Duval High School.
A win against DuVal will mean the Panthers advance to the state championship tournament starting Oct. 31.
“We’re going to keep this momentum going,” junior Franklin Andrade said.
“We’re going to step up the intensity, because now we’re the No. 1-ranked team in Maryland,” Sama said. “We’re undefeated, no blemish on our record, so we have a mark on our back right now, and every team is trying to gun us down. So every time we go in there, we know they’re coming for us. So we got to step our game up even higher to keep going hard.”
Following the county championship win, players celebrated by singing their fight song, jump around, hugging each other and running to their families to share the special moment.
“I think it starts from middle school,” Andrade said. “We were all going to the same middle school. We used to play on this field. We played a semi-final in this field in middle school together. And it’s just brotherhood outside of that.”
The Panthers must win their final regional game to compete for the state championship.
Parkdale has never brought home a Maryland state championship in soccer.