FHSAA boys soccer playoffs: NSB, Beachside, Taylor, Seabreeze, St. Joe move into Round 2

LAKE MARY — Fast and physical from the opening whistle, Lake Mary repeatedly and relentlessly breached Bartram Trail's typically dominant defense Wednesday night.

Blair Dorman completed a hat trick in 50 minutes, and John McGarry bagged a brace as the host Rams eliminated the second-seeded Bears 5-1 in a Region 1-7A quarterfinal. Bartram Trail, which lost only one game prior to January and went unbeaten against fellow St. Johns County schools, ended the season with a 12-4-1 record.

Entering the night, Bartram Trail had conceded a total of 11 goals — and more than two in a game on just one occasion, a 4-1 defeat to Fleming Island nearly three months ago.

"This was probably the most athletic team we played the entire season," Bartram Trail head coach Matthew Crowell said. "Granted, Lake Mary being a 7-seed is a little shocking, and I knew that coming into the game. I don't think we came mentally prepared for the game. And 3-0 is a situation we hadn't seen at half."

Lake Mary blitzed the Bears out of the first-half water break, scoring twice in the space of two minutes. McGarry polished off a quick passing combination by rifling the icebreaking goal off the far post and in, and Dorman tapped in a second after a tackle in midfield and an unselfish pass across the box by McGarry.

"Conceding that first goal, we got in our heads a little bit," senior midfielder Luke Williams said. "And they play so spread out, like we do on the attack, so if we turned the ball over they could counter really easily."

Bartram Trail nearly halved the deficit before the half-hour mark on an audacious 40-yard strike by Lionel Fresse, but Lake Mary goalkeeper Kingston Ouellette retreated and tipped it over the bar in the nick of time. Five minutes later, Dorman rattled the underside of the Bartram bar and tacked on a third goal for the Rams.

Ouellette made three saves in quick succession early in the second half, and Dorman ended all hopes of a comeback with his third goal of the evening.

Jason Marley prevented the shutout with an unorthodox finish in the 78th minute, bundling home a cross from Rylan Kaminski.

New Smyrna Beach 3, Dwyer 1

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Brooks Beeman slammed home a goal less than three minutes into the New Smyrna Beach Barracudas’ Region 2-6A quarterfinal against Dwyer, and it was exactly what they needed.

In a back-and-forth game at the New Smyrna Beach Sports Complex, Beeman's goal allowed the second-seeded Barracudas (17-0-1) to play from ahead for the majority of the first half — and all of the second half. They’ll host No. 3 Heritage in the semifinals Saturday.

"Getting the goal nice and early was obviously the game plan," head coach Brandon Cisneros said. "It was something we wrote on the board. Honestly, it was the first thing we wrote on the board. The intensity and starting fast. That set the game tone right away."

Beeman’s was the lone goal by either team in the first half.

Three minutes into the second half, a Panthers defender wrapped his arms around NSB senior Ivan Traykov, leading to a penalty kick. Traykov drilled it to put the Barracudas ahead 2-0.

Dwyer, the seventh seed, spent much of the second half on the attack and responded at the 59-minute mark, trimming its deficit to 2-1.

Beeman calmed any nerves with his second goal of the day in the 76th minute. He made a run and received a pass from Traykov just outside the box before sliding a shot past the keeper with his left foot.

“It was very intense because they were getting shots up,” Beeman said. “They were probably the team that got the most shots up against us this entire season. Once I scored, it all got off our shoulders.”

East Ridge 3, Creekside 0

ST. JOHNS — Creekside's playoff charge ran into a dose of Lake County lightning.

Gabriel Perez scored all three goals for East Ridge (15-3-1), eliminating Creekside 3-0 in a Region 1-7A quarterfinal.

"It was very important for the team, and I'm very happy to go to the next round," the senior said.

In a joust of Knights that included Creekside signs proclaiming the field as the "Castle of Doom," the elusive Perez proved to be East Ridge's midfielder in shining armor.

He finished off a crisp shot to the corner after an attack down the left in the 26th minute, tallied his second five minutes from halftime and completed his hat trick with a 63rd-minute penalty after fleet-footed striker Amir Taylor went down in the box.

Both teams spent the last 45 minutes with 10 players after an off-the-ball incident at a free kick. Officials conferred and pulled out red cards for Creekside defender Luc Oliver and East Ridge top-scorer Rafael Enriquez. Moments later, Perez — whose only previous multi-goal game was Nov. 7 against Edgewater — delivered his second of the night.

Center backs Charles Barth and Jackson Sandoval commanded a resolute East Ridge defense that held Creekside (15-4-1) in check through the game.

Washington 4, Menendez 1

PENSACOLA — Menendez (9-8-3) hung in for a half, but was simply overwhelmed by host Washington upon returning to the pitch.

The Wildcats sailed to a Region 1-5A quarterfinal win behind three second-half goals.

"We played a really good team today. They came out to fight," Falcons head coach Rodney Levy said. "It was a lot of travel for us in one day, it was a six-hour trip for us. But we’re a young team and we’re going to bounce back."

Allowing the game’s opening scoring in the 23rd minute, the visitors immediately answered. After the Wildcats failed to clear the ball on a throw-in into the box, junior midfielder Alan Kudukhov made them pay by finishing a loose ball for the equalizer.

Washington could not cash in immediately on its opportunities, but Ryan Chandler got the ball rolling in spectacular fashion. After a free kick was briefly cleared, the sophomore midfielder fired a missile from the edge of the 18-yard box past freshman goalkeeper Lucas Ellison for the go-ahead score in the 59th minute.

Jackson Callaway provided insurance with a free kick, and the Falcons conceded an own goal to deal themselves the final dagger.

Niceville 1, Ponte Vedra 0

NICEVILLE — "Find Grant's feet."

After watching his Eagles draw for 40 minutes with Ponte Vedra in a Region 1-6A quarterfinal at Twin Oaks Soccer Complex, Wes Nelson's halftime speech cut straight to the heart of the matter.

Grant, to be more specific, is Grant Wheeler — Niceville's leading scorer, with 19 goals on the season.

The message stuck with teammate Jeremy Covington. Only it wasn't Wheeler's feet he found.

Before the final water break in the 60th minute, Covington cut it out wide up the left side and put a left foot on a high arching pass across the box. Wheeler, ice in his veins, leapt over his defender, arched his head to left and flicked the perfectly-placed gift inside the left post and under the crossbar for the go-ahead goal.

"We work on it a lot," Covington said of the attack. "Left and right wing, (coach) wants us to stay wide and make the runs in from behind and get that final cross to get that goal, just like we did right there."

Seabreeze 2, River Ridge 1

Late-game heroics sent Seabreeze into the second round.

Hector Vasquez and Cole Miller struck in the second half as the Sandcrabs (13-3-3) turned a halftime deficit into a 2-1 win, their fifth in a row.

Seabreeze draws a road trip to second-year program Horizon on Saturday night.

Taylor 1, Benjamin 0

Ricardo Jaimes converted a second-half penalty kick, and Taylor celebrated its first playoff victory since 2017.

The Wildcats (13-6-1) set up a district-championship rematch with Trinity Prep at 7 p.m. Saturday. Goalkeeper Yahir Palacios made nine saves for Taylor in the Feb. 2 meeting.

Beachside 1, South Walton 1 (3-2 PK)

Beachside came up clutch for the second game in a row, notching its first playoff victory in a penalty-kick shootout.

Aiden Au-Ferris scored in regulation for the Barracudas (8-4-6), and Santiago Suerez, Carson Garner and Will Dudley held their nerve in PKs. Owen Carey made the game-clinching save.

Next up, Beachside prepares for a third showdown with Bishop Kenny. The two sides played to a 4-4 stalemate across 180 minutes of regulation and extra time this season, but the Barracudas prevailed in the District 4-4A championship game on penalties.

St. Joseph 3, Christ's Church 2

St. Joseph defeated Christ's Church for the second time this year, by an identical score, in a Region 1-2A quarterfinal.

State semifinalists a season ago, the Flashes (8-3-5) will look for redemption against St. Johns Country Day after falling victim to a district semifinal upset on Jan. 31.

Horizon 2, Matanzas 0

Christian Rodriguez and Caua Cunha lifted Horizon to its first FHSAA boys soccer playoff win with second-half goals against visiting Matanzas.

The Pirates, anchored by senior goalkeeper Ben Kopach, bowed out with an 8-6-2 record.

Arnold 2, St. Augustine 0

Surprising district champion St. Augustine (5-11-4), making its first playoff appearance since 2007, pushed defending state champion Arnold but succumbed to a shutout loss in a Region 1-5A quarterfinal.

Jonah Kirspel starred for the undefeated Marlins with a goal and an assist, and Zachary Gunning padded his team lead with his 18th goal of the season.

— Chris Vinel, Clayton Freeman, Patrick Bernadeau and Seth Stringer contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FHSAA boys soccer playoff roundup: New Smyrna Beach, Beachside advance