Thomas, Indians blank Bulldogs (SLIDESHOW)

FORT WALTON BEACH – Prior to Saturday’s match against Crestview, Choctawhatchee girls’ soccer coach Jeff Rynearson expressed some concern over his team’s ability to move past an emotional win over Niceville just two nights earlier.

Were his Indians mature enough to move forward and put the program’s first-ever win over Niceville behind it?

View an action photo slideshow from the game »

As it turned out, Rynearson didn’t have to wait long to get his answer.

Megan Thomas scored a goal on a breakaway in the first minute and Choctaw tacked on two more goals as the Indians concluded its regular season with a tidy 3-0 win over Crestview at Joe Etheredge Stadium. Ariel Lindner had two assists for the Indians.

Thomas, who also registered an assist on the day, finished the day with two goals sandwiched around a scoring strike by Dani Weyer in a match that was dominated by the Indians.

“We always talk about, ‘Let’s leave no doubt who the better team is and the sooner we can do that the better,’” Rynearson said. “Scoring in the first minute, it doesn’t get any better.

“They really took it to heart.”

Choctaw ended the regular season 14-4-2, exceeding its five-win total of a year ago.

Thomas, whose speed was simply too much for the Bulldogs’ defenders, said the Indians wanted to use Saturday’s match as one final tune-up before entering next week’s District 2-3A tournament.

“Coming off of Niceville, we really wanted to put Crestview away,” Thomas said. “We wanted to set the tone going into districts.”

Done and done.

Choctaw took a 1-0 lead before most of the crowd had settled into their seats.

From there, the Indians relied on a strong defensive effort spearheaded by its fullbacks. Skyler Rynearson, Rachyl Sutton, Lexi Landers and Paige Wooley – along with reserve Courtney Peters – stifled Crestview’s attack all game long.

Compounding matters for the Bulldogs (10-6-2) was the fact that three regular starters were held out with various ailments.

Bulldogs coach Carl Everitt, who has also managed quite the turnaround in his first year, hoped the trio would be active for Monday’s District 1-4A tournament opener.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Everitt said. “We looked good, but when we play our striker at central-mid, we become a bit toothless, really.”

Follow Travis Downey on Twitter: @TravisDnwfdn