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MIXED RESULTS: Niceville girls win, Choctaw girls fall in regional semifinals (SLIDESHOWS)
His team clinging to a 1-0 lead, Niceville girls soccer coach Michael Denton paced the sideline at Twin Oaks Park Friday night. As Pace rattled off shot after shot on the Eagles’ goal, Denton’s eyes darted from the play on the field, to the seconds slowly ticking off his game clock and back to the field.
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“They were ringing us,” Denton said. “It was just a hold-your-breath kind of thing.”
Thanks to some timely stops by its defense and a sprawling save by keeper McKenzie Ward, Denton and the Eagles could exhale with great relief and begin their celebration following a taut 1-0 win over Pace in its Region 1-4A semifinal.
Niceville (18-3-2) will now host the Region 1-4A final on Tuesday against Fleming Island, which defeated Orange Park 5-0 on Friday.
“When the moment came, we put it away,” Denton said. “I’m proud of them for that.”
The Eagles’ lone goal came at the 67th minute on a put back by Eli Craft. Samantha Ditmar received the assist on the play.
“It was a wonderful win,” Eagles senior defender Savannah Boswell said “We worked hard as a team. It wasn’t just one person, it was the whole team.”
Denton credited his defense, a season-long strength for the Eagles, as the key. Specifically, Denton called Ward’s save on a Pace penalty kick a “game-changing moment.”
“She laid out and got it,” Denton said.
Boswell said the win was just a step towards the Eagles’ ultimate goal of playing for a state title.
“I really want to go to state,” Boswell said. “This is just one more step to getting to the dream.”
Pensacola 2, Choctawhatchee 1 OT: Choctaw’s brilliant turnaround season came to a disappointing end, as Pensacola erased a 1-0 deficit, scoring the equalizer with four minutes left in regulation before tacking on the game-winner four minutes into the extra period of the Region 1-3A semifinal at Etheredge Stadium.
“It was very disappointing,” first-year Choctaw coach Jeff Rynearson said. “We did not play our best soccer tonight. It was tough.
“It’s a really tough loss.”
Choctaw took the lead with just 12 minutes left in regulation when Megan Thomas found the back of the Pensacola net, causing the Indians sideline to erupt.
“That late in that kind of game, you think that’s the game winner,” Rynearson said.
Choctaw ends its season 16-6-2, a vast improvement over last season’s 5-9-2 record.
“It was a really good season,” Rynearson said, “the girls have lots of things to be proud of.”
