High School Girls Soccer: Late penalty controversially halts Gulf Breeze's unbeaten streak at 11

What started as a festive and highly-anticipated night ended with a vexed Gulf Breeze sideline and jeers from the home fans.

Following 80 minutes of well-played action on the pitch, a matchup between two of the state's best girls soccer teams concluded with a controversial call.

South Walton converted a penalty kick on the match's final play to spoil the Dolphins' senior night. The final score was 2-1 on Wednesday from Dolphin Stadium.

Senior defender Neysa Misita was whistled for a foul in the box on what appeared to be a clean tackle on Seahawks sophomore forward Aliza Mannon. As the ball skipped out of bounds, a penalty wasn't granted until seconds after the challenge.

Grace Ritchie gave the visitors the win with an elevated shot into the left side of the net. Gulf Breeze junior goalkeeper Katie Ardoin guessed correctly, but the senior's shot was too strong and just out of reach.

"It's unfortunate that these girls worked so hard during the game for it to come down to a foul that was questionable at best," Dolphins head coach Albert Gatica said. "It's out of our hands. ... We just have to move forward."

The loss was Gulf Breeze's first since a season-opening defeat to Bartram Trail on Nov. 11. The team entered the night unbeaten in its previous 11 matches, which includes victories the last nine times it has stepped on the field.

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When they stepped off the field Wednesday night, Dolphin players were understandable frustrated and voiced their displeasure to the officials. They did display sportsmanship by shaking hands with South Walton players, but seeing their stretch of dominance come to a bitter end was a tough pill to swallow.

"I didn't think it was a foul," Gulf Breeze senior forward Ava Matherne said. "He took a really long time to call it, so I thought we were going to end with a tie. But then he called it, and I was just like, 'OK, that really happened.'"

The Dolphins' record dropped to 10-2-1 this season.

Following the latest FHSAA rankings released this past Monday, Gulf Breeze is ranked 16th in the state while South Walton (9-1-1) was 15th.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's match between top-20 teams.

'A horrible, awful call'

It'll be hard to convince anyone wearing gold and blue that a penalty was warranted, especially the girl at the center of it.

Here's how Misita saw it: "On the final play, (Mannon) got a touch around one of our players, and so I went over to slide-tackle her. I did successfully, and the ref gave a horrible, awful call."

The final whistle blew immediately after Ritchie's game-winner. Irate from the sideline, Gatica made a beeline toward the officials. The response he received didn't help matters.

"The thing that got me is that referee said, 'If we made a mistake, I'll apologize,' Gatica recalled. "It is what it is."

Wednesday's final play overshadowed the latest of a long line of terrific Dolphins defensive efforts.

The two squads played an even first half, but South Walton did not generate many shots after halftime. Mannon floated a strike over the crossbar in the 52nd minute before a free kick was saved by Ardoin on a short hop 20 minutes later.

The visitors executed a nice set piece in the 75th minute. Ritchie streaked across the box for a groundball corner kick before leaving it for follow senior Kate Lange at the top of the box, but Ardoin again was in position for the save.

Meanwhile, the best single defensive play of the night came from Misita. The senior defender dispossessed Mannon, of all players, on a one-on-one run in the 62nd minute.

"On the back line for sure, Neysa Misita is in total control," Gatica said. "She's one of our best 1-v-1 defenders, but she also can communicate and control the back line and the rest of the players in the positions they need to be in."

This season, Gatica estimates a 50/50 split between formations with three defenders and lineups with four in the back. The team has found success either way as it had allowed just three total goals with six shutouts over its previous eight matches before Wednesday.

Misita, who has signed to play next year at Alabama State University, is joined on the back line by seniors Molly Clark and Meghan Thacker. Clark played last season at goalkeeper, but made the switch to defender.

Why has the unit been so successful?

"This might sound bad, but we're not easy on each other," Misita said. "If someone is not in the right spot, we tell them. We'll yell at 'em on the field, obviously not to be mean, but so that they can fix it and not let (mistakes) lead to a goal. That's what it is, we're just hard on each so that we can win."

'Finding easy goals'

Gatica implored his players to create scoring chances from in close and not to settle for shots from outside the box.

The Dolphins' long-distance attempts yielded mixed results. Senior forward Meredith Pugh nearly put the home team on the board in the 43rd minute when she launched a missile from behind the right corner of the box, requiring South Walton junior goalkeeper Macy Chambers to bat the ball one-handed over the bar for a corner.

Most of the other deep shots either resulted in easy saves or were wide or over the target.

Gatica got his wish thanks to a beautiful combination play in the 56th minute. Controlling the ball from the top of the attacking third, Matherne dished it to Pugh before running to open space toward the middle of the box. Wide open, Matherne buried a return pass to equalize the match at 1-1.

According to the head coach, that goal has been more indicative of how the Dolphins have scored this season.

"The girls are playing the style we're asking them to play," Gatica said. "We've really worked on being patient in possession and finding easy goals. And when I say easy goals, that's goals inside the 6-yard box or around the penalty spot. So we're not settling for 18-yard shots or 20-yard shots. We're doing a good job of breaking down defenses this year and getting in those sweet spots."

Fourteen players have scored for Gulf Breeze during the 2022-23 campaign, but none have created more offense than Matherne (17 G, 8 A) and Pugh (16 G, 10 A) up front.

The duo has excelled against all comers, but they were appreciative of the challenge South Walton presented; not everyday do they face quality opponents that's on their level.

"It was really refreshing to compete because I feel like we haven't had that in a while," Matherne said. "It was fun to play against them. I know we ended with a loss, but it's not the playoffs yet."

'Everybody loves each other'

Twenty minutes before the match began, 10 seniors were recognized as part of senior night festivities.

That list includes Matherne, Misita, Pugh, Thacker, Clark, captains Addi Stikeleather and Kylie Gillis, forwards Natalie Weaver and Ellie Pavey along with defender Cassandra Musca.

"The special thing about this class is that I've had a chance to coach just about every one of those girls, whether it'd be on varsity or junior varsity," Gatica said. "So I've kind of watched them grow and develop into special young ladies."

Commenting on senior night, Misita remarked: "It was amazing. In our locker room, the juniors and some of the other underclassmen decorated the whole locker room. They made it really pretty and made us posters, it was just really sweet. It feels like a family here and everybody loves each other."

The excitement before the match may have contributed to the Dolphins' slow start.

Following a quick throw-in, South Walton broke the ice when Jadyn Lo Bue Hozer finished a Mannon cross in the fourth minute. The visitors controlled play early in their attacking third as Gulf Breeze didn't get its first shot on goal until the 17th minute.

"I feel like we weren't really focus tonight. With senior night, we were kind of all over the place," Matherne said. "They came out really strong and I don't think we expected that. I think that's something to work on and really make sure we're locked in for every other game coming up."

The Dolphins play at 7 p.m. Friday at Arnold.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Girls Soccer: Controversial call spoils senior night for Gulf Breeze