High school boys soccer: Gainesville punches its ticket to district final with win over Springstead

Gainesville boys soccer head coach Basil Benjamin admitted that he and the Hurricanes didn't know a ton about Hernando County's Springstead prior to Saturday night's 4-6A district semifinal matchup at the Jonesville Soccer Complex.

"Not really," Benjamin said when asked if he knew much about the Eagles. "Just from looking at the rankings and the teams they're playing, we realize that they have some good individual players. We didn't know how they played as a team because we didn't get to see them."

Fortunately for the top-seeded Hurricanes (13-0-1), it didn't take them long to figure the Eagles (16-5-1) out as Gainesville went on to post a 3-0 win.

Gainesville will host Forest for the district championship Wednesday at 7 p.m., at Jonesville Soccer Complex. The third-seeded Wildcats upset the second-seeded Buchholz Bobcats 1-0 at Citizens Field on Saturday night.

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Here are takeaways from Saturday night's Gainesville-Springstead match.

Gainesville's early goal a blessing and a curse

The Hurricanes were the first and only to find the back of the net Saturday night. And they didn't waste anytime doing so.

The Jonesville Soccer Complex doesn't have visible scoreboards. So while the exact minute that Gainesville scored its first goal is unknown, it wasn't long after the match's opening whistle.

The Hurricanes struck the Eagles with a senior-to-senior connection as Colin Wycoff threw in a ball to Ryleigh Peyer, who sent a header into the goal.

And while Gainesville was certainly happy with the goal, Benjamin wasn't necessarily pleased with his team's play following the goal.

"We weren't sharp," Benjamin said. "We scored a relatively early goal and then everybody started to try to get a goal instead of just being a little bit more clinical."

The Hurricanes were able to add to their lead shortly before halftime as senior Samuel Ponce sent a penalty kick into the lower left corner of the goal. Gainesville's third and final goal of the evening would come courtesy of a perfectly placed corner kick off the foot of junior Anand Alvarenga.

Benjamin, Hurricanes looking to keep it simple moving forward

There was a buzzword on Gainesville's sideline Saturday night.

"Simple" is the word you'd hear coming from both Benjamin and Gainesville's players, both on the field and on the bench. Each time a Gainesville player would receive possession of the ball, he'd be reminded to keep it simple.

"A lot of times, the players when they get the ball, they want to take three or four touches before they pick their heads up to connect with their teammates," Benjamin explained. "Once you get it, don't try to dribble by people or overcomplicate the game. Just play the easiest pass so we can keep possession and force the other team to spend more time defending."

And while Gainesville certainly won the time-of-possession battle, Benjamin thinks it can be improved upon.

As the Hurricanes kick off their postseason, Benjamin can't help but look back at how well his team was playing prior to Christmas break.

"Everything was just clicking," said Benjamin. "After the Christmas break, we had some good moments and then not so good moments. So we have to develop that consistency again."

Some members of Gainesville's roster are playing with bumps and bruises, Benjamin says.

"That could be some of it," Benjamin said. "But to be honest, we just need to get more serious throughout the entire game instead of just going moment by moment."

Gainesville now looks on to Ocala Forest

Forest's district tournament win was the second over Buchholz this season. The Wildcats topped the Bobcats 3-1 on Jan. 5.

And while once again Benjamin and the Hurricanes don't know a ton about their upcoming opponent, beating Buchholz twice in one season says all that needs to be said, according to Benjamin.

"If they can beat Buchholz, they have a pretty good freaking team," said Benjamin. "Buchholz has a bunch of very good players."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Boys soccer: Gainesville beats Springstead, advances to district final