Regional playoff brackets to be released Saturday; first games Wednesday
The Celebration Storm punched their ticket to the boys soccer regional playoffs Tuesday with a 3-2 overtime win over Olympia. The District 7A-5 title is CHS’ sixth in school history.
The win insures at least one more home game for Celebration, Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Region 2 quarterfinal. The FHSAA will announce the brackets Saturday.
Celebration (11-0-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first half, only to watch it slip away in the second half before claiming victory in extra time, the one county program of three to win district championships last week.
“(Tuesday) was a great win for the kids and program,” Coach Chad Boudreaux said. “Our theme all year has been brotherhood. Everything we do is for each other and when things started going sideways on us in the second half, there was no finger pointing or yelling. We kept our composure and fought for each other.”
After rallying from two goals down in the regional semifinal, Celebration dominated play Tuesday and led 2-0 at intermission as Jose D’Lima and Sebastian Ramis scored.
“We played the first half exactly like we wanted too,” Boudreaux said. “We had excellent ball movement, kept possession and made the right moves. Unfortunately in soccer, going up two goals can be dangerous because you tend to get complacent and think the game is already won.”
Olympia scored two quick goals to tie the game after the mid-half water break. But Celebration quickly regained its composure and would dominate both possession and scoring opportunities in the two overtime periods. With about five minutes to go, striker Mohammed Raky outraced all defenders to a through ball and easily beat goalie Juan Barbosa on a shot for the game-winner.
“Our composure was the key,” Boudreaux added. “For the entire overtime, you could sense that this team was not going to allow the game to get to penalty kicks. We essentially started playing like we did in the first half.”
The win kept the Storm undefeated on the season, where the Storm have outscored opposition 50-9 and have had 15 different players net goals.
In other county action, second-seeded Harmony (12-6-2) lost a hard-fought 1-0 decision to top-seeded Davenport Ridge (10-3-0) in the District 6A-7 title game, but the season may not have ended for the Longhorns, who may earn an at-large berth Saturday.
“I really think we have done enough to earn a No. 4 or 5 seed,” Ballard said. “Obviously any big upsets in district play could have an effect on the final rankings, but we still believe we will have more soccer to play.”
Harmony’s game plan against Ridge, an explosive team averaging more than four goals a game, was to pack the center defense; while trying to muster a little offense on counters. The strategy worked well in the first half as the Longhorns battled to a 0-0 tie. Its defense, led by defenseman Conner Cecil, blocked numerous shots in front of the net and when balls did manage to get through, goalie Kevin Lavigne was up to the challenge. Striker Alex Tuyo had two early opportunities in the first half to put Harmony up, but Ridge Goalie Thomas Coniglio was up to the challenge.
“Ridge has shown a tendency to get a little rattled when they fall behind early and I was hoping we get one as it may have made the difference,” Ballard noted. “But both defenses were outstanding.”
Ridge would strike magic four minutes into the second period, when Harmony failed to clear a ball just outside the box. Thiago Costas took a deflection on the right side, spun past one defender and fired a ball into the left-handed corner net for his 17th goal of the season.
Harmony only got two shots on goal in the second half, with their best chance of getting the equalizer coming with 10 minutes to go when Tuyo got a through ball and had a one-on-one situation with the goalie. But Coniglio came off his line to cut off Tuyo’s angle and made a diving stop.
The lone girls team to play for a title, the Harmony Longhorns (9-6-1) fell to Ridge (17-3-1) Tuesday at St. Cloud High.
The Bolts scored first five minutes into the game, but Rebekah Wiles answered three minutes later with a blast from 18 yards out into the upper corner. But Harmony would get no closer to a title, as Ridge scored twice more in the half, then a backbreaking breakaway goal just minutes into the second have to go up 4-1.
“Ridge is a very athletic offensive team, they keep number high and are dangerous in the scoring third,” said HHS Coach Scott Marlega, who thinks there’s an outside chance the team earns a wild-card playoff bid. “We played tough defensively, but in the end their speed was too much to handle.
“We created some early chances, and if we finished those, it would have been a different game, right to the end. I’m proud of the girls’ effort, tonight’s and all season long. There was no quit in them no matter the score.”
