Vikings cruise past Tate, 8-0 (SLIDESHOW)
The Fort Walton Beach girls’ soccer team got to work in a hurry Monday night at the Navarre Soccer Complex.
>>CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SLIDESHOW FROM THE GAME
It only took two minutes for the Vikings’ Kelsie McGrail to find the back of the net against Tate en route to an 8-0 District 1-4A tournament-opening win.
McGrail led the way for Fort Walton Beach (15-1-1) with two goals to go along with her two assists on the game. Rachel Simmons and Brianna Oswald added two goals apiece and Joy Fordyce chipped in a goal and an assist.
The quick start was a sign of things to come for Fort Walton Beach as it went on to win via mercy rule in the 70th minute.
“It takes some confidence from the other team,” McGrail said of the quick start. “They weren’t as confident because we were coming out strong and once we scored they knew they had some competition.”
Defensively, the Vikings’ Alex Goebel and Katherine Stone split time and coach Bill Wilkins came away pleased with his team’s play on the defensive end, citing how “well organized” they were.
But the shutout got lost in the flurry of goals the Vikings rained on Tate.
“We had a lot of people get in on the scoring,” Wilkins said. “It was a good combination of working on our restarts and getting everyone involved in the scoring.”
Jennifer Bazylak scored the Vikings eighth and final goal on a breakaway in the 70th minute.
Fort Walton Beach will face Pace Wednesday in a District 1-4A semifinal match.
