Harmony and Celebration played for the OBC title last season, and are 1-2 in this year's tournament seeding. (Mario Casamalhuapa File Photo)
Harmony’s girls and Celebration’s boys will be the top seeds when the Orange Belt Conference Championships are contested this week.
Action begins Monday with the top seeded Lady Longhorns and second-seeded Storm hosting quarterfinal games. The two schools will also be the site of second-round winner’s bracket play on Wednesday.
On the boys’ side, the Storm and second-seeded Gateway will host first and second round games on Monday-Wednesday. Osceola High will host both the girls (5 p.m.) and boys (7 p.m.) championships Friday. This will be the first year that both the boys and girls tournaments are played the same week with the championships back-to-back at the same site.
Because the first official state rankings will not come out until after the tournament begins, last year’s final state rankings were used to seed this year’s tournament. Although the OBC seedings do not take into account graduation losses and this year’s results, past history suggests the seedings are probably pretty accurate.
Top-seeded Harmony has won the last two girls’ championships and 13 of the last 15 titles. The Lady Longhorns are off to a 6-2 start and will face 0-6 Liberty Monday at 7 p.m.
Harmony is led by reigning county Player of the Year Gabby Guzman. She’s scored 10 goals in her first seven games for the high-scoring Longhorns. Midfielder Machaela Looper has seven assists. Faith Hizer, who helped lead Harmony to a 13-6-1 record and a regional semifinal berth last season, is back in net.
“It’s an interesting mix of players this year,” Harmony Coach Scott Marlega said. “We have a lot of experience up front but we are starting two sophomores, a freshman and a junior on defense. We are starting to put it all together and would love to string three wins together at OBC’s but it’s going to be a challenge, as several other teams are more than capable of winning. We’re fortunate to have the first two rounds at home.”
Second-seeded Celebration is also off to a 6-2 start and have already posted county wins over Osceola, Tohopekaliga, and St. Cloud. The Storm was the last team to interrupt Harmony’s OBC dominance – winning the 2022 championship. They play 2-0 Poinciana in Monday’s quarterfinal. The Storm offense is led by Leandra Olivera (4 goals) and Ava Dragon (2).
St. Cloud (4-3-0) is the only other team to win a girls OBC title in recent years, capturing the 2019 championship. The No. 3 Bulldogs will face No. 6 Osceola (1-5) at 5 p.m. The other quarterfinal in the top half of the draw will find No. 5 Gateway (1-1-1) playing No. 4 Tohopekaliga (3-3-1) in a 5 p.m. game at Harmony.
History says the boys seeding is also pretty accurate. Celebration lost last year’s championship to Gateway in a shootout and although the Storm are off to a rough 2-4-0 start, it should be noted that the Storm’s four losses have come to ranked teams like Class 3A state runner-up Lake Highland Prep, regional finalists Bartram Trail and Innovation, and Montverde Academy.
Led by junior Diego Urida (3 goals, 1 assist), the Storm will host Liberty Monday at 7. No. 4 Tohopekaliga (3-2-1) will play No. 5 Harmony (2-4-2) in the 5 p.m. game. Senior Santiago Guedez (4 goals) will lead the Longhorns offense.
“It’s going to be a tough week, as I believe any one of six teams can challenge for the OBC crown,” Storm Coach Chad Boudreaux said. “Being this early in the season, many teams are still trying to figure things out. Because we have a lot of quality teams in the county, the OBC Championship is important to a lot of teams.”
Defending OBC champion Gateway (4-0-3) will host No. 7 Poinciana (4-3-0) at 7 p.m. Monday; while St. Cloud (2-5) takes on Osceola (2-4) in the 5 p.m. game.
Panthers coach Sager Patel expects a wide-open tournament.
“Give Celebration credit, they are always a top-notch team,” he said. “But with the graduation losses many teams experienced last year, I truly believe you are not going to be able to sleep on any opponent (in the tournament). Tohopekaliga looks solid this season and Brett Ballard always does a good job with Harmony. Traditionally, St. Cloud and Osceola are always strong. It’s going to be an interesting week.”
Although the Panthers graduated several key pieces off of last year’s 17-3 OBC Championship team that reached the regional semifinals, Patel says he likes the make-up of this year’s team.
“We’re still finding our way,” Patel says. “We got off to a good start and then played three consecutive draws, where I felt we should have won one or two of them. Still this team seems to have a lot of chemistry amongst themselves and they know what their mission is.” The Panthers are led by Adrian Rodrgiuez (4 goals, 1 assist) and Dylan Hargreaves (3 goals).
2025-26 Orange Belt Conference Soccer Championship Schedule
Monday, Dec. 8
Boys Quarterfinals
Celebration 8, Liberty 0
Tohopekaliga 4, Harmony 3, PKs
St. Cloud 3, Osceola 0
Gateway 2, Poinciana 1
Girls Quarterfinals
Tohopekaliga 8, Gateway 0
Harmony 12, Liberty 0
St. Cloud 8, Osceola 0
Celebration 8, Poinciana 0
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Boys Round 2
Tohopekaliga 1, Celebration 0
Gateway 6, St. Cloud 2
Harmony 8, Liberty 0
Poinciana 2, Osceola 0
Girls Round 2
Harmony 4, Tohopekaliga 1
Celebration 4, St. Cloud 3, PKs
Gateway 10, Liberty 0
Poinciana 8, Osceola 4
Thursday, Dec. 11
Girls 3rd place: Tohopekaliga at St. Cloud, 5 p.m.
Girls 5th place: Poinciana at Gateway, 5 p.m.
Girls 7th place: Liberty at Osceola, 5 p.m.
Boys 3rd place: St. Cloud at Celebration, 6 p.m.
Boys 5th place: Poinciana at Harmony, 6 p.m.
Boys 7th place: Liberty at Osceola, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 12
OBC Championship Games (At Osceola High School)
Girls: Harmony vs. Celebration, 5 p.m.
Boys: Tohopekaliga vs. Osceola, 7 p.m.
