Girls soccer intro: Playoff changes shift sands of competition, increase uncertainty

As part of a dramatic overhaul by the FHSAA in virtually every sport to modernize the playoff system towards one that utilizes MaxPreps’ strength of schedule, the change has also affected girls soccer.

Out is the old system of district champ and district runner-up advancing to the playoffs. In is a larger district involving former District 1 foes to the west, one guaranteed regional playoff spot, the increase of two classifications – pushing three local schools up to classes – and a lot of uncertainty over how RPI at-large berths will shake out when it comes to the remaining regional playoff spots.

That topic is a primary issue of concern for area teams a month into the three-month season. Here’s a snapshot of the city’s elite girls soccer programs and glance at other area notes.

Leon Lions

District 2-4A champs for the past five seasons with an average record of 16-5-2 in that span, Leon (1-5-1) is in full rebuild this season as it enters Class 6A along with Lincoln and Chiles. The Lions are also behind the 8-ball trying to capture early-season wins. Leon lost 3-1 to Gainesville Buchholz and 7-0 to Gulf Breeze to start the year.

While playing a stretch of local games, the Lions have lost twice to Lincoln, once to Chiles, and tied Florida High 1-1 on Tuesday.

“We’ve got some young players and graduated seniors that played four years,” Leon coach Tony Kidd said. “Everybody just has to learn to play together.”

Normally, Leon wouldn’t have faced district opponents Lincoln and Chiles twice until later in the year after it had prepped itself with tough early-season battles. But because the district tournament isn’t a three-team affair, the Lions won’t be able to simply build towards a district semifinal victory that would net a playoff berth.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kidd said. “You don’t have to play a district opponent all year. You’re seeded based off your schedule. We have a horrendous schedule with Mosley twice, Niceville, Navarre, Gulf Breeze, Bishop Moore, Winter Park, and our local teams. But we’re just building towards the end of the season.”

Leon senior keeper Regan Hermeling, who might otherwise see a few more clean sheets with a veteran backline is instead seeing a barrage of shots. While her save percentage is 70%, the Lions have scored just four goals total.

Junior Olivia Rehwinkel, who scored 10 goals a season ago while at Lincoln, could be that person. Senior midfielder Serafina Valisa is also adept. It’s just a matter of piecing together the puzzle, which Leon did well last year when questioned if its streak would come to an end.

Now, it just so happens Niceville and Navarre – regular regional playoff stumbling blocks for area teams – happen to be in the district path as well.

“It makes you wonder how it will all work out, and I don’t think it will come out equitably,” Kidd said. “Usually the best teams win, but it can kill the Cinderella story.

“We won’t be ranked high enough based on our record. We need some wins. We’re not the team we were last year. I liked where you could fight your way into the district championship and it meant something, but now it doesn’t mean anything unless you win.”

Lincoln Trojans

If there’s a team that could ascend to the top of the district, even as it battles Niceville and Navarre, it’s Lincoln. The Trojans ended a 16-game losing streak to Leon to start the year, then turned around and beat the Lions again a few weeks later.

“It felt amazing, and I think it really lifted the team’s spirits,” senior midfielder Chase Merrick said about ending the streak. “We can focus going into games instead of being scared. We used to be shaken when we played Leon.”

Sitting at 6-0-1 and with an early-season state No. 16 ranking, Lincoln is coming off a 19-win season a year ago and has the requisite program-building with head coach Jono Williams in his sixth season.

While the Trojans graduated 2018 All-Big Bend Player of the Year McIver Levy, who played on the right wing, they gained talented freshman Paige Churchill, who is a true central striker with footwork skill on ball and off ball to boot. Churchill recorded a hat trick in the second game against Leon, scoring left-footed back post, right-footed with power centrally, and fit a tight shot upper 90 near post.

“She started slow, but now she’s coming into her game. Three goals against Leon speaks for itself,” Williams said. “The only thing I can compare it to is Ivey. She was competitive as a freshman, but she wasn’t as dominant. It’s a good problem to have.”

Working with her back to goal, Churchill (six goals) works well in conjunction with junior Lexi Gray (five goals, five assists) and Merrick (three goals, three assists), who scored 22 goals a year ago, in the midfield. Her presence up top has allowed sophomore Meredith Camron (one goal, eight assists), who had 13 goals as a freshman, to move to the position Levy operated in.

“One thing I think is better is our team’s soccer IQ,” Williams said. “We understand the game, we’re not afraid to make the pass, we’re not individual and trying to score. Paige got three, but it wasn’t selfish. It was a good team result. Having Paige up top frees Chase and Lexi in the midfield and Meredith on the right to do their thing. The pieces are coming together.”

In the way that it took six years for Kidd to build Leon’s program to the point of sustained dominance, Williams is hoping the same thing is cementing with Lincoln, even amid regional changes.

“Why not us? Let’s start our own streak,” Williams said. “We can create a new streak over them. It was a good result with Chiles around the corner (Wednesday).”

Chiles Timberwolves

This season’s start for Chiles (5-1-3) mirrors last season’s (5-2-2). The Timberwolves scored 22 goals in their first nine games in 2018, and they have 21 right now.

But it’s also deceiving because Chiles struggled last season scoring goals against high-quality opponents. The Timberwolves’ schedule has been much tougher to start the year, but the offensive flow is much better.

Eleven different players have scored this season, including four by junior Gabby O’Sullivan. Senior center back Rachel Andris anchors a strong defense, but she’s also gone forward to score two goals.

Whether the propensity for goal-scoring continues remains to be seen, but wins over Florida High, Mosley and Leon, ties against Niceville, Maclay and Bishop Kenny, and a 2-1 loss to Navarre show that Chiles will be in the mix for a district title and regional playoff berth despite welcoming in new coach Joe Ferris.

“Right now, we’re testing the waters to see what we can do,” Ferris said. “We’re experimenting with who we put where. We have a lot of talent and can play in a lot of positions. We’re moving people around to see what happens. Through Christmas, we’re still experimenting.”

The back half of Chiles’ schedule is a brutal seven-game slate that includes eight-time defending Class 1A state champ St. Johns Country Day visiting Bradfordville.

Ferris hopes the competition puts the Timberwolves in a good position at the end of the regular season. The rest is up to them.

“This is player driven,” Ferris said. “They want to win, they want to excel, they want to succeed. There’s 10 seniors on this team. Leadership is not something we have a problem with. Motivation isn’t a problem. It’s not a skill issue. A lot of what I’m doing is making sure I get them in the right position and then let them play.

“They have high expectations, want to go far, and we have the talent to do it. But they have to put the ball in the back of the net and perform on the field.”

Maclay Marauders

Despite the graduation loss of two primary offensive weapons from a year ago and the transfer out-of-town of its first-team All-Big Bend keeper, the rest of Maclay’s starting 11 is virtually intact from a year ago.

Junior Katelyn Dessi and senior Avery Smith are providing the finishing touch, while junior center back Ramsay Grant and junior outside back Nicole Macri are two of a formidable back line.

With an average of 16 wins the past four years, including a 16-3-2 season last year, the Marauders (4-2-1) are poised to repeat that effort.

Maclay opened the year with three super-challenging road games – losing to Navarre by a goal, beating Niceville by a goal, and falling to St. Johns Country Day, which the Marauders seemingly have run up against every year in the regional playoffs.

“We’re definitely trying to figure out who we are,” said head coach Paul Dickson, last year’s All-Big Bend Coach of the Year. “That’s why we played that opening slate of tough games. But they’ve already responded well. I think the girls surprised themselves.”

Maclay closes the calendar year this week against Leon and Lincoln, then it will see those schools again in one month to close the regular season.

After that, the Marauders hope they’ve done enough to be a top regional seed in the new eight-team brackets.

“I’m intrigued by the possibility of playing St. Johns later,” Dickson said. “The last couple years we’d have been a two-seed. It would be nice to get deeper in the playoffs and let the chips fall where they may on that one night. But there’s a lot of work to be done. We’ve got a lot to figure out.”

Florida High Seminoles

Everybody knows about Florida High senior forward Janae Scott, the most prolific returning offensive player in the area. Off an area-leading 32-goal season a year ago, Scott has nine goals in eight games as the Seminoles have started 3-3-2.

But with a young group around her and her third head coach in four years – Victoria Sachs takes over the reigns of the program – Scott has taken a step back on urgency to break school records or call for the ball.

Scott, who has signed with Florida Southern, has earned her “D” coaching license and is treating her senior season as an assistant coach who also happens to draw double teams whenever she steps on the field.

“We have a lot of young players, so I use the role more as guidance,” Scott said. “I try not to get too stressed because they are young. This is a learning experience. I can use the player perspective, and the coaching perspective will give them the tools to be successful after I leave.”

Sachs and Scott have talked through what that looks like. Often it means Scott doesn’t play at all against a lesser opponent where Florida High knows it will win. It’s about player development around her on the pitch.

“She’s working with the team to build the next Janaes, plural,” Sachs said. “Because of middle school, this team has relied on Janae for longer than four years. All of the team’s play has been centered around Janae Scott, but this year we’re centering our play to feed Janae. We’re trying to develop new Janaes so that this team is prepared when she leaves. We need new goal scorers.”

It's the third head coach in four years for Scott. Sachs is determined to be the person that provides consistency for a program with a history of success, but one that also hasn’t taken the big step to reach a final four.

“We absolutely want to go past districts and take it as far as we can,” Sachs said. “We’re going for No. 1 in everything. We want to win everything. A tie isn’t good enough, a loss isn’t good enough, up a point isn’t good enough. I want wins, constant and consistent wins.”

Our last memory of Scott could be hunched over in sadness after losing in a penalty-kick shootout to South Walton in last year’s regional semifinals, concluding a 19-win season.

She along with other senior captains Lily Quijada and Caroline Hamon are the anchors to build the culture for this year’s conclusion and beyond.

“Last year was very disappointing, but this year’s team is all about who wants it,” Scott said. “They’re young, so at the end of the season if we lose I’ll be upset, but if I see growth then I’ll be happy. I’ll know that after I leave to go play at Florida Southern then they’ll have the tools to be successful without me.”

Around the area . . .

• Rickards freshman Madeline Kopka has scored 12 goals and added five assists in six games as the Raiders have gotten off to a 5-1-1 start. Another freshman, Betrice Drayton, has seven goals and six assists.
• Freshman are shining for St. John Paul II (3-4) in the early going. Kate Ricco has scored seven goals with two assists, while Aimee Ijeoma has deposited three goals and provided four assists.
• Off to a 7-0 start, Wakulla’s offense has been provided by junior Gracie Lawhon (seven goals), and sophomores Macie Varnes (six goals, four assists), Victoria Dichio (five goals, two assists), and Lily Stolk (three goals).
• At Taylor County, senior Ceven Kidd has seven goals in just three games, and the Bulldogs are 3-5.