ORANGE PARK - Topped with former St. Johns Country Day School soccer star Carson Pickett’s debut on Friday with the USA womens national team, soccer alums from Clay County have dotted some pretty impressive lineups.
After Pickett, a professional Womens Professional Soccer League player for the North Carolina Courage, debuted as a defender
against Columbia in a 2-0 win in Utah on Friday, a Fleming Island High soccer trio; Reed Davis, Noah Escobar and Dylan Bartel continued as part of an unbeaten season for the Jacksonville Armada’s Under-23 team.
Pickett, in a Yahoo sports article by Rebecca Cohen, was celebrated for her accomplishment by NFL linebacker Shaquem Griffin, a University of Central Florida standout and a player for the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins who also has just one arm.
The Armada Under-23 team is, as of Friday, 9-0-1 and leading the Gulf Coast Conference Southern division of the National Premier Soccer League which features teams from around the country. The team, ranked number one in the USA, has clinched a NPSL playoff slot and beat the New Orleans Jesters to win the Gulf Coast regular season title.
The Armada tied 2-2 with Tallahassee SC in their season opener and have since orchestrated a nine game win streak.
Note: Armada won 1-0 on Saturday to win the Gulf Coast Division title. Davis played the entire game.
Davis, most notably a redshirt senior at Ohio State University after three stellar seasons as a top ASUN conference and All-Tournament player for Jacksonville University, has maintained his high level of skill into the college and pro ranks with the Buckeyes finishing at 6-9-1; 6-3-0 at home, with Davis as a front-attack forward.
Davis was named a unanimous All-Freshman team in 2018 at JU with five goals bvefore getting a preseason ASUN play of year nod ultimately scoring three goals.
As a true freshman in 2018, Davis added to his two Gatorade Players of Year; first time ever in Florida, while leading Fleming Island High to a state title in his senior year with six goals for the Dolphins.
Bartel, another standout player for Fleming Island, finished two years at University of South Carolina with 17 starts in 18 games as a freshman in 2019 with six shots on goal and one goal with one goal as a sophomore in 2020-21.
Bartel has a history with the Armada with 22 games in his first season and 28 games prior to that as a Under 16 player in Orlando. Bartel is now playing at the University of North Florida.
Escobar, 18, is the youngest of the trio with a recent stint with the Puerto Rico Under-20 team before joining the Armada. Escobar recently signed to play college soccer at Georgia Southern University.