District soccer tournaments continued Thursday. Two area teams advanced to district finals, while at least one saw it’s season come to an end in the district semifinals.
Below is a recap of tonight’s action.
Boys Soccer
District 1-4A semifinals
No. 1 Fort Walton Beach 5, No. 4 West Florida 0
The Vikings (11-4-3 overall) led 4-0 at halftime and will host No. 2 Wakulla in the District 1-4A championship on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
West Florida (5-11-2) is eliminated from the district tournament but has likely done enough to advance to the Region 1-4A tournament. The Jaguars entered the district tournament ranked No. 6 in Region 1-4A and the second to last team in the eight-team field.
Girls Soccer
District 1-6A Semifinals (at Ashton Brosnaham Park)
No. 2 Pace 2, No. 3 Navarre 2 (Pace advances 4-2 on penalty kicks)
Pace senior goalie Zoey Mattes discussed the exact moment with her teammates on the bus ride to Ashton Brosnaham Park.
If the Patriots went to penalty kicks, she was taking one. Right before the shootout, she decided she would take the one that ended it.
After watching her teammates convert three of Pace’s first four penalty kicks and Navarre put two of its four wide, her prediction came true. She sent the ball high and right and into the back of the net to send the Patriots to their second district championship game in the last three years.
Pace (11-4) will play No. 1 Niceville in the District 1-6A championship on Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at Ashton Brosnaham Park. The winner will clinch an automatic berth in the Region 1-6A tournament, though both teams have done enough to clinch an at-large bid if they don’t win a district title.
Navarre (10-8-2) is eliminated and will wait to see if it makes the regional tournament. The Raiders entered the district tournament ranked No. 8 in the region.
“It’s nice that it was me finishing out the game,” Mattes said. “I didn’t rely on anyone else. Obviously my teammates made there’s before, but it was nice knowing that I had this place to stake that I’m here and I’m going to finish this out for my team.”
Mattes was experiencing much different emotions about 90 minutes earlier, when Pace went into the locker room at halftime trailing 2-0.
Raiders sophomore Kylyn Shawaryn scored her teams first goal in the ninth minute, then senior Emma Barry doubled the lead four minutes later. Navarre outworked Pace in the first half, with Mattes imploring her teammates to play with more energy.
Mattes and junior Kylin Williamson worked to get the squad’s energy back up, and the Patriots found a spark early in the second half. Katelyn Borchik put home a rebound off a corner kick in the 48th minute to cut the lead in half.
10 minutes later, Williamson’s free kick bounced off the crossbar and inside the goal line to tie the game. Pace forced overtime despite being without their top goalscorer, senior forward Sydney Crow, who is competing this weekend with the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program South Region Team at the Interregional Games in Orlando.
“They believed that we could win and they kept fighting,” Pace head coach Nick Williamson said. “We got some great leaders on this team and they stepped up for each other, but also our bench was deep and they absolutely supported each other. It was a good team win for us and couldn’t be more proud.”
Mattes did her best to keep Navarre off the board from there, including a wild sequence late in the second half where she made a diving save on a free kick, then stopped a follow up shot while still on the ground.
Skill that comes from training she does with Coastal Rush outside of Pace soccer practice. During Patriots practices, she’s a field player, which gives Nick Williamson reason to trust her no matter what she does.
This game, that meant taking the final penalty kick to send Pace to a district final for the second time in three years and likely ensure a Region 1-6A quarterfinal home game.
“I got 100 percent faith in that kid,” Nick Williamson said. “I don’t care where she plays. Goal or forward, it doesn’t matter.”
No. 1 Niceville 6, No. 5 Tate 0
As Aggies assistant coach Kendall Blackmon saw it, the Eagles did exactly what they needed to do to advance to Tuesday’s District 1-6A final. But not for a lack of trying on Tate’s end.
Niceville led 2-0 before scoring four more goals in the second half. The Eagles (14-1-1) will play No. 2 Pace in the District 1-6A final on Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at Ashton Brosnaham Park.
Tate (13-5-2) is eliminated and its season is over. The Aggies needed to win the district tournament to advance to the Region 1-6A tournament.
“Once you’re down it’s kind of hard to stay (up),” Blackmon said. “But the girls fought the entire game. That’s all I ask for them. I don’t care if we lose as long as they give 110 percent everything.”
Niceville’s Riley Mcinnis put home a rebound off a corner kick for the Eagles first goal in the 15th minute, then Molly Johnson doubled the lead 11 minutes later. Abbey Kuritz, Payten Hart, Michelle Melancon and Jezlyn Nelson all scored goals in the second half.
Tate finishes this year with its most wins in a season since 2016. The Aggies didn’t make history like they did last year with their first regional appearance since 2007, but the five graduating seniors were a part of that group that raised expectations for the program.
Expectations that next year’s group could reach again. Tate projects to return 78 percent of its goals scored by this year’s team.
“They definitely have had an impact and we’re going to miss them,” Blackmon said. “We’re also a young team. We have a lot of new people and at the end of the day we’re rebuilding. Compared to whenever I played here, it’s night and day.”
District 1-3A semifinals
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 6, No. 3 Freeport 0
The Crusaders scored five goals in the first half and rolled to their fifth straight district finals appearance.
Pensacola Catholic (11-2-3) will play at No. 1 South Walton in the District 1-3A championship on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
The Crusaders beat the Seahawks 2-0 in South Walton on Nov. 5. They’ll hit the road again for the district final as the Seahawks are ranked higher in the FHSAA power rankings.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pace, Pensacola Catholic girls soccer advance to district finals
Reporting by Justin Fitzgerald, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
