Niceville boys soccer blanks Choctaw

By JARED MACARIN

jaredm@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH — Early on Niceville smacked shot after shot on Choctawhatchee’s goal.

The Eagles did not have much success at the start, but the finish turned out well enough as they won 4-0 over the Indians on Tuesday in a District 1-5A contest.

“They have a solid defense,” Niceville coach Wes Nelson said. “We just told the guys to be patient and do what we worked on in practice.”

Niceville (6-0-1, 4-0 district) got on the board in the 32nd minute on a strike from Eric Sims off an assist from Robert Russell. Then, just before the half, Sims found the back of the net again, although this time he scored on a penalty kick.

Holding a 2-0 advantage as the second half began, the Eagles continued to put pressure on the Indians (3-2-1, 3-2). They added two more goals in the latter part of the game, with Kevin Sims scoring off an assist from brother Eric in the 70th minute and Pedro Alba scoring off an assist from Donnie Dorenkamp in the 75th minute.

“They are a good team and we have some work to do,” Choctaw coach Chris McDaniel said. “We played a defensive game, and you can’t play a defensive game against Niceville. They attacked the whole time. They are a good team.”

The Eagles were able to rip off more than 20 shots on goal, while the Indians had just two. Niceville controlled the tempo from the beginning, continuously pushing the ball across midfield and spending a majority of the time on the Indian half of the field. Choctaw was able to hold its own at the start of each half, but eventually was worn down by the pressure that allowed the Eagles to score in the waning minutes.

It was the first game in more than a week for both teams, and Nelson was more than pleased with how his team performed on the road.

“I am extremely happy with how we played coming off the break,” he said. “It was a good game and they played well as a team.”

Niceville stays in district play on Friday for its next game, traveling to Pine Forest. Choctawhatchee will play at Washington on Friday in a non-district game.