By Ken Jackson
For the News-Gazette

Two races; three horses.

That’s what boys and girls soccer as turned into in Osceola County this season as teams take a holiday break.

Harmony and Osceola’s girls will settle the Orange Belt Conference and No. 1 seed in 4A District 6 on Jan. 3 when the Longhorns host the Kowgirls.

Meanwhile, Gateway’s boys claimed a hammer lock on the OBC race with a 4-2 win Wednesday over two-time defending champ Celebration.

The Kowgirls and Lady Longhorns are both good stories. The Longhorns put together its finest season in school history last year, capped by a trip to the Class 4A state tournament in Tampa, but Coach Stephanie Jones watched seven seniors graduate, including goalie Kaylee Horn, sweeper Anna Blanchard and midfield stalwarts Emily Johnson and Payton Leffew.

A new cast is stepping up to lead Harmony, now 10-2 after wins this week over Palm Bay, Liberty and Poinciana. The ‘Horns, like OHS, are 5-0 in the OBC and 6-0 in 4A-6.

Still, Jones says her Longhorns are going through a sort of rebranding.

“It’s going as well as I could hope, but it’s definitely not as easy this year,” she said. “There have been struggles through the transition. There’s been a lot of comparing to last year and looking around for some of those seniors from last year to come back and make a play.

“What I’m watching for now is who is going to step up and lead us. Our game against (reigning 6A state champ) Vero Beach (a 5-1 loss Dec. 8) was a real learning experience of them.”

Kendall Pollock, fresh off a state tournament run with Harmony’s volleyball team, is the new sweeper. Senior Heidi Mobley, who played a lot of defense last year, has moved up to the midfield with returners Kaley Ward and Lindsey Johnson. And, like last year, Ward (22 goals, 8 assists), senior Caitlin Beam (18, 7) and sophomore Page Leffew (12, 10) are providing the scoring punch.

At Osceola, Coach Mark Ausherman brought back most key pieces to the Kowgirls’ first-ever regional playoff appearance in 2010. Osceola is 9-1 after a 9-1 win over Lake Minneola on Tuesday.

Scoring sensation Leah Mullins (31 goals, 7 assists) has had a hand in over three-quarters of OHS’s goals. Seniors Claire Tudor and Sarah Lambert lead a defense that plays in front of senior goalie Mary Hernandez, who has given up just 15 goals this year.

“The team and especially the seniors are very excited at having an opportunity to win the district title for the first time in school history,” Ausherman said. “The core group of seniors have worked together for four years and works well together. I believe they can go far.”

On the boys side, Gateway (8-2) took a big OBC lead (4-0) with Wednesday’s win. The Panthers took a 3-0 halftime lead on Celebration (2-2-2) and cruised behind two goals from Phillipe Oliviera (18 on the year) and one each from Joe Santos and Camilo Espitia.

“It wasn’t easy, in the second half they changed their formation and got us disorganized,” GHS Coach Oswald Attin said. “We’re by ourselves in our district (5A-5) and so winning the OBC and taking it back from Celebration really means something to us.”

Osceola (4-0-1) leads the county in 4A-6. Gateway hosts Harmony (5-2-2) in an OBC match on Jan. 3.