FHSAA girls soccer playoffs: Creekside-Bartram Trail rematch set, Seabreeze advances

ST. JOHNS — Creekside's Avery Upton and Amaya Logan brushed off the mere thought of pressure at the start of Friday's penalty shootout with Lake Mary; the winner would get a crack at national No. 1 Bartram Trail, and the loser would be eliminated from the Florida High School Athletic Association's playoffs.

Logan turned the tide with consecutive saves, allowing Florida commit Upton to step up with victory in sight.

"I knew, going up, that I was making it in. There was no doubt in my mind," Upton said. "Easy. I looked straight at the keeper and knew I was going to make it and win it for us."

Simple as that.

Upton indeed buried her penalty and kept the Knights' quest to repeat as state champions alive for at least one more round. Creekside (12-5-0) prevailed 4-2 in penalties after a 1-1 stalemate through 100 minutes.

Lake Mary (13-6-1) controlled the play for much of regulation, and grabbed the lead in the 50th minute. Central defender Angelina Kinard reacted first to a loose ball in the box after Logan tipped a goal-bound corner kick off the crossbar.

Logan kept the Knights alive with a spectacular diving save just before the water break, then launched a pass toward forward Alana Maki. Maki pounced on a mistake at the back, fended off challenges and slammed home the equalizer.

"Amaya's been big-time for us all season long," Creekside head coach Joe Soto said. "We feel very, very comfortable and confident with her at the back. She's been at her best this season, absolutely fantastic. That was a huge save for us."

Lake Mary and Creekside traded goals through the first two rounds of penalties, but Logan dug deep and relaxed.

"I love PKs. I always beg at practice to do them," Logan said. "The first one I saved, I was smiling before it even happened. … I calmed down and took it like a practice and got out of the mentality of how important the actual save was."

Creekside weathered an onslaught of injuries in the first half of the season, and still remains without its top attacker in midfield. Avery Robinson, a junior committed to NCAA champion UCLA, earned a call-up to represent the United States Under-17 women's youth national team for a pair of games in England this week.

Bartram Trail 7, Apopka 0

ST. JOHNS — Olivia Bori knows her tactics.

So when the Bartram Trail senior saw that Apopka had designated a one-on-one marker for Bears midfield ace Grace Ivey, she knew what it meant.

"We want what's best for the team, and if someone's man-marked, that means someone else has time and space that can be used," she said.

For the 24-goal forward, again, and again, and again.

The Bears, ranked first in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches and first in Region 1-7A for the FHSAA girls soccer playoffs, roared through a regional semifinal romp over Apopka.

Bori, signed with Florida Atlantic, was at the heart of nearly everything for the Bears (18-0-2): She netted a first-half hat trick, raided down the left to set up an Ivey goal, cleverly let a Malia Roberts pass run through for Carolyn Johnson to finish and got tripped up in the box to create a Kate Kirby penalty kick.

"I feel like we have been starting a little bit slow the last two or three games," Bears head coach Jen Rodriguez said. "So, that's one thing that we really focused on this week leading into this game, just a fast start, and don't let your foot off the gas."

Macey Millard also scored as the Bears, storming up the wings with fullbacks Anna Bachman and Eden Freeman-Warren, repeatedly exploited Bori's speed and skill on the left to overpower Apopka (15-5-3). Ivey twice struck the crossbar, and only the tireless effort of Apopka keeper Jordan Perkins kept the Bears from hitting the eight-goal mercy-rule margin.

Seabreeze 1, Horizon 0

Baylor signee Brianna Chesley kept her scoring streak intact, and Seabreeze (15-7-0) secured a spot in a regional final for the second time in three years.

Chesley's second-half strike, her 11th goal in the Sandcrabs' past five games, held up as the winner in a Region 2-5A semifinal with Horizon. Avery Dellinger made three saves as Seabreeze maintained its 12th clean sheet of the year.

The top seed in its region, Seabreeze next hosts Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek for a spot in the Final Four.

Stanton 3, Tocoi Creek 0

Stanton struck with three late goals in St. Johns County to bounce Tocoi Creek (10-8-1) in a Region 1-4A semifinal. Junior winger Kimberly Norton hit the net twice, along with attacking midfielder Emma Griner.

The visiting Blue Devils (10-7-2) stretched their winning streak to four games entering Tuesday's regional final at South Walton.

Fleming Island-Ponte Vedra postponed

Heavy rain doused Ponte Vedra's playing surface and rendered it unplayable Friday night, meaning the Sharks' regional playoff showdown with Fleming Island was postponed for a second year in a row.

Last year, a lighting failure forced a reschedule. The Sharks will hope the parallels end there, considering Fleming Island then eliminated them from the playoffs.

Instead, the two district rivals will renew acquaintances at 2 p.m. Sunday. The winner will face Gulf Breeze for the Region 1-6A championship on Tuesday night.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FHSAA girls soccer: Bartram Trail, Creekside set rematch in regional final