Four Leon County Teams Win Soccer District Titles

Last week four district final soccer matches took place resulting in Maclay (girls and boys), Chiles (girls), and Florida High (boys) all claiming titles in their respected classification.

2A District 1

On Jan 29, the Maclay boys soccer team (16-1-2) took on the Taylor County Bulldogs (10-8-3) in Tallahassee for the 2A District 1 final. Coming into the match not only seeded first in the district but also ranked 24th in the state by MaxPreps, Maclay was a heavy favorite. The Marauders proved this by dominating the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball for the full 40 minutes. Usually matches are 80 minutes but with Maclay up 8-0 at the end of the first half, the match concluded via the mercy rule.

On offense, the Marauders found goals from 5 different players including Santi Nunez (Jr.) and Tyson Willett (Jr.) with one, and Luke Daunt (Sr.), Zac Scovotto (Sr.), and Barnes Ray (Sr.) all with two. Six of these goals were scored with assists from Santi Nunez (2), Luke Daunt (2) and Jack Daunt (2) (Sr.). On the defensive side for Maclay, Gavin Slocum (Sr.) led the team with four steals.

The Maclay girls soccer team (11-3-2) was also playing for a district title on Jan. 30 against the Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks (10-12-1). It was a matchup between the one seed and the three seed which ultimately favored the Marauders. Maclay showed their dominance in the first half as their offense found the back of the net five times and their back line held tight to go into halftime up 5-0. Maclay outscored the Tiger Sharks in the second half 4-1 winning the match 9-1 and claiming the district title.

On offense, Maclay had five different players score at least one goal including Reagan Cummings (So.) and Gray Burelson (So.) with one, Claire Lawler (8th) and Mallory VanLeuvren (Fr.) with two, and Maggie Bragg (So.) leading the team with three. In addition to her goal, Gray Burelson led the team in assists with two. On the defensive side, Maggie Bragg led the team in steals with six.

3A District 2

On Jan. 30 the Florida High Seminoles (12-3-3) played for a district title against North Bay Haven (5-10-1) in Tallahassee. The Seminoles were the one seed in the district tournament coming off of a convincing win against Rutherford (7-7-1) in the semifinals while North Bay Haven was seeded second.

During the first half of the match both teams looked somewhat even as they headed into halftime with a score of 1-1. During the second half, the Seminoles started connecting on a lot more opportunities and outscored North Bay Haven 3-0 in the second half resulting in a 4-1 win and a district title.

5A District 2

On Jan. 30 the Chiles girls soccer team hosted the Mosley Dolphins at Stan Goldstein field for the 5A district 2 final. This was a much-anticipated matchup for multiple reasons but mainly because both teams are ranked highly in the state of Florida. Chiles was the one seed ranked 18th in the state and Mosley was the two seed ranked 74th in the state.

Both teams started the game off very strong defensively but had trouble finding meaningful runs on the offensive side of the ball. When Mosley did get past the Timberwolves back line, they could not find a way to put the ball past Chiles’ keeper, Gracie Gerteisen (Fr.). Both teams headed into halftime empty handed at 0-0.

Chiles came out of halftime determined to score and it showed as there offense played much more aggressive than in the first half. After some well-timed crosses and favorable runs, the Timberwolves beat Mosley 3-0 claiming the district title.

Chiles players that scored goals included Cadence West (Sr.), Addison Kantor (Sr.) and Abbey Griffin (Fr.). Jada Bartusek (Jr.) and Kyndal Smith (Sr.) both had one assist. On the defensive side of the ball Kyndal Smith led the team in steals with a total of six.