- March 3, 2026
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Make it to the district finals.
That was the goal Windermere High boys soccer team’s head coach Lou Romao and the staff had set at the beginning of the season.
The team began the year with only two starters returning from the 11 on the field. He knew Windermere always was going to be a competitive team, but with the high caliber teams in Orange County, Romao didn’t know if the team’s strength would be up to par.
They thought it would be a growing year.
He watched the team slip through with lucky draw wins, tie teams who it should’ve beaten and do enough to just get by. But when the team had its first loss to West Orange, he and the staff knew something had to change. So they changed their approach and adjusted the roster.
It paid off.
Windermere first won the Metro Championship, then the District Championship, then the Regional Championship. The team was going to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A Final Four.
There’s one word to describe the emotions on the bus ride over to DeLand: excitement.
Some of Windermere’s seniors were sophomores on the state final team two years ago and knew how pristine the field was on the biggest stage of their high school careers. They shared their memories with players who hadn’t been there before and played as one team, rather than individually.
Although Windermere’s success elapsed in the Final Four game as the team fell 4-1 to Columbus Tuesday, Feb. 24, Romao wants every player to hold his head high, be proud of their accomplishments and the tremendous growth from the beginning.
“To get to states is a huge accomplishment,” Romao said. “To win states is a magnificent accomplishment, but it doesn’t define who you are. They proved who they were all season by being relentless and going as far as they did.”
Windermere’s players showed their character by never giving up, he said. They didn’t say at the beginning of the season they were never going to improve. They didn’t give up when Olympia scored first in the regional final game. They came back, rallied and won 2-1.
The Wolverines also never allowed their injuries to be a reason not to compete in the state semifinal game.
In the regional quarterfinals, Windermere beat Harmony 6-0, then followed up in the regional semifinals with a 5-0 win over Freedom. The team’s confidence and chemistry was at an all-time high, but coaches noticed an issue after Freedom — injuries.
Enzo Bueno De Oliveria had a hamstring issue. Ivaldo Neto came down with a 102-degree temperature and he didn’t play in the regional final. Keagan Kiefer’s foot began to bother him.
Four days before states, Felipe Novak Fontenelle Ribeiro had a grade-one sprain. Luckily his mother is a physical therapist, so he entered the pool and did everything he could to bring the swelling down. They had doctors from Brazil telling him what medication to take and from Friday to Tuesday, he got the swelling down and played in the Final Four game.
Romao could tell at the regional final game that Windermere wasn’t the same team. He told the coaches, “Hopefully we have time to heal,” but the Wolverines didn’t.
In the first half of the game, Romao could see his players fighting their hardest. But when they entered the locker room down 1-0, he could see the pangs of pain. Although none of the players wanted to be subbed out, he had to start making adjustments because they couldn’t take it anymore.
Windermere’s fate could have been the same if the team was 100% healthy; Columbus is a phenomenal team, Romao said, but they’ll never know what would have happened. But even in the end, when the players’ legs were mush, they still fought, and it made the staff proud.
“They’re strong kids,” he said. “That’s why I love coaching at Windermere.”
Romao’s coaching style is not an easy one. He described himself as “old school.” He’s driven, loud and never will hesitate to call players and himself out on mistakes, but the players encourage it. He has texts from them saying, “Coach don’t stop driving us. Whatever you do, it’s working.”
But he also knows when to be a support system for the players.
When the clock struck zero in the Final Four game and Windermere’s fate was solidified, it wasn’t cheers for another moment of success, rather tears flowed. Players leaned on each other's shoulders, some took to the ground and sat in their thoughts. The loss meant the season was over, and it hit harder for the seniors — they had just played their last high school game.
“This does not define you,” Romao said of what he told the team after the game. “What defines you is you working hard getting where you are, and now that you fell, you have to get back up. … This is a lesson for you to take in life. When you’re down, things aren’t going your way, you get back up and you work harder, you fight harder.”
His speech was met with applause and agreement by the players as they knew the fight it took to make it there.
Next year those same players will be returning to the field.
Windermere will begin next season on a different note, a more optimistic one. While half of the team is graduating, the other half — specifically the offense who scored 116 goals — is coming back.
Romao said next year the team would love to win districts and metros for the third season in a row, and hopefully back-to-back on regionals, then win states and collect all four trophies. But he never looks ahead, so while that might be the big picture, the focus will remain one game at a time.
There also are 10 juniors on the JV team who will be brought up.
Windermere’s JV team hasn’t lost a game in five years. The culture on the JV team produces players who already are in the mindset of winning and when they join the varsity squad they say, “OK this continues. We can’t stop now,” Romao said.
JV is full of talent. The makeup of the team is players who missed varsity by a hair, which is why the coaches scooped Novak Fontenelle Ribeiro from the team in the middle of the season.
“We are like Alabama, we are like Clemson, the top tier college football programs here at Windermere,” Romao said. “We don’t rebuild. We reload.”
