FLEMING ISLAND - Rivalries being exciting as they are, the girl's soccer District 3-6A opening matches feature a rivalry clash (Thurs., Jan. 25 at FIHS 6:30 p.m.) between Fleming Island, the fourth seed, and Oakleaf, the fifth seed, with the winner having to regroup then travel to play top seed Ponte Vedra.

Ponte Vedra, 15-1-1, and ranked number three in the USA, is not much of a reward for winning a playoff game, but the prospect of having a shot at the Shark's incredible record should make the winner of the Eagles/Knights clash a wild card for a shot at a state title.
Fleming Island, 6-7-3 under first-year coach Taylor Berry, lost a 4-0 match in December to the Sharks, head to the Oakleaf match with a 2-2 final week record with wins over St. Augustine and Mandarin with losses to Bartram Trail and P.K. Yonge.
Back defenders Megan Cobb and Jenna Moreland will be challenged by the Ponte Vedra speed and footwork past midfield with goalie Macie Opp the final stab of defense.
Oakleaf, 4-7-1, has a four-game losing streak going; Middleburg, Bolles, Beachside and Clay and will need forward Ellie Thompson's cannon leg to be on target.

District Tournament

Thurs., Jan. 26: 4. 1. Ponte Vedra (15-1-1) BYE; 4. Fleming Island (6-7-3) vs. 5. Oakleaf; No. 2 Nease (10-2-3) BYE; 3. Fletcher (10-7-4) v s. 6. First Coast (11-5-1)
Semifinals: Mon., Jan. 29
Finals (at Fletcher): Tues., Jan. 31, 7 p.m.

District 3-6A

1. Ponte Vedra 15-1-1
2. Fleming Island 6-7-3
3. Nease 10-2-3
4. Oakleaf 4-7-1
5. Fletcher 10-7-4
6. First Coast 11-5-1

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Spartans rolling into state return

By Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

ORANGE PARK - With just four teams in their district 3-2A, St. Johns Country Day School's girl's soccer team will get to tweak the carburetor on their Mustang to prep for the first step to a return to state title prowess.
Spartan coach Mike Pickett is quietly creating a building of momentum around the quick feet of forward Sydney Schmidt and the towering wall in front of his goal in senior Roxy Mathews.
Pickett has somewhat lamented his team's comparatively low goal production, but the Spartans still win against the best teams in the USA and Florida.
In recent seasons, St. Johns (10-2-5) just scored and didn't allow scoring in their region playoff runs. Last year's Class 2A loss was a shocker and Pickett will be relying on his backline defense to keep St. Joseph Academy's top scorer, a freshman with 14 goals, from breaking the plane.
With a win in their semi, University Christian (10-1-0) and Christ's Church Academy (7-4-1) will likely get St. Johns in the final. University Christian did lose to Christ's Church in the regular season and twice tied an 8-2-2 Hilliard team during the regular season. UC has two goal scorers in double figures with junior Abbey Mehm (#4) with 33 goals and 15 assists and senior Melody Angelica (#10) with 17 showing an ability to get in front of opposing goalies.
St. Johns has 12 goals from Schmidt which worries Pickett and Mathews has 63 saves on the year with eight shutouts. The hero is probably his center back, senior Sofia Avila, who patrols the space in front of Mathews and Cal Hoshouser who pushes the ball down the sidelines to Calli Berrang or Reygan Ropero to get to the corner and finds Schmidt or Mia Johnson in front of the goal.

District 3-2A
1. St. Johns Country Day School (10-2-5)
2. Christ's Church Academy (7-4-1)
3. University Christian (10-1-2)
4. St. Joseph Academy (6-7-2)

All BYEs first round; Semifinals: Tues., Jan. 30-St. Joseph at St. Johns; University Christian at Christ's Church. Finals: Tues., Jan. 30 at higher seed.

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Double barrel front puts Clay in the top spot

By Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Clay junior forward Kirra Dodson carried the Blue Devils into last year's region playoffs with her 34 goals, but now, with the Lady Blue Devils at 11-1-1, Dodson has a wingman, Dodson is the wingman, with sophomore sensation Brooke Bunton punching in 27 goals with Dodson adding 15 thus creating a dilemma for opposing defenses.
Cover one, the other scores. Add senior Ericka Martinez getting a little uptick in her goal production and coach Stephanie Waugh offers a three-headed scoring apparatus.
Goalie Shelby McClain is one of the more active goalies in the area.
The good thing about District 2-5A is Ridgeview and Middleburg are also in the lineup with a quarterfinal match on Wed., Jan. 24 at Middleburg to face top seed Lincoln on Fri., Jan. 26 with No. 2-Clay at a BYE then facing Columbia vs. Rickards winner. The final is Tues., Jan. 30.
Middleburg coach Joy Rosano has played in and won Final Fours so she knows the ropes in playoff time and could create some chaos.

District 2-5A

Clay 11-1-1
Columbia 8-3-0
Lincoln 11-5-1
Middleburg 7-6-1
Ridgeview 4-5-1
Rickards 2-8-2

Quarterfinals: Wed., Jan. 24-Ridgeview at Middleburg; Rickards at Columbia; Clay, Lincoln BYE. Semifinals: Fri., Jan. 26 at Clay and Lincoln. Final: Tues., Jan. 30 at top seed

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Lady Raiders on eight-win roll

By Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

ORANGE PARK - The Orange Park High girl's soccer team has piled on some scoring lately with scores of 8-0, 7-0, 7-1, and 6-3 riding the swift sister duo of Rylynn and Ryanne Robinson to bring an eight-game win streak into the district 3-5A tournament this week.
Rylynn Robinson has 21 goals with sister Ryanne at 25 goals for the Raiders attack.
Should the Raiders roll through the tournament, a Clay County region clash with Clay from district 2-5A could be interesting with the Blue Devils offering their own 1-2 scoring punch; Brooke Bunton and Kirra Dodson with 27 and 15, respectively, making the possibility of a double figure goal-fest possible.

District 3-5A
Orange Park 12-1-0
Beachside 8-5-2
Menendez 5-7-0
St. Augustine 5-10-0
Englewood 4-10-1
Parker 4-8-2
Riverside 2-7-3

District quarterfinals: Wed., Jan. 24-Englewood at St.Augustine; Riverside at Orange Park; Parker at Menendez. Semifinals: Mon., Jan. 29. Finals: Wed., Jan. 31 at Menendez.

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Shaw's key to Indians' go-no-go

By Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - With lead scorer Kiersten Shaw at 29 goals for the season and senior Ella Hutchins at 10, opposing defenses know where Keystone Heights girl's soccer coach Roger Laurent would like to have the ball go to.
Shaw, though, scored 71 goals last year in 25 games; 58 goals in 22 games as a sophomore and only has nine games for this season.
Short story: When Shaw is in, Keystone Heights (10-5-1) will score.

District 3-4A
P.K. Yonge 10-3-3
Keystone Heights 10-5-1
Branford 8-6-3
Fort White 5-7-2
Newberry 10-8-1
Interlachen 6-11-1
Trinity Catholic 6-9-1
Williston 10-4-0

Quarterfinals: Wed., Jan. 24: Interlachen at P.K. Yonge; Trinity Catholic at Newberry; Fort White at Keystone Heights; Branford at Williston. Semifinals: Fri., Jan. 26. Finals: Tues., Jan. 30. at Williston.