The quest to defend their state championship from a year ago is in full swing after the Sharks handled business as the top seed with a convincing 8-0 win over Lake City Columbia High in the Class 5A state tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
The Sharks (12-3-2) earned their No. 1 seed in region one with yet another girls soccer district title following a 1-0 victory over the Beachside High Barracudas at home on Jan. 29.
Home cooking is something the Sharks will have in their favor for the next couple of rounds as long as they keep winning until the state semifinals thanks to their top seeding.
Lily Morse has been someone the Sharks have leaned on this year to lead their offensive attack, and she has been up to the task time and time again.
She leads the Sharks with 15 goals, including coming through with the game-winner early in the second half against the Barracudas (10-6-2) to secure the district title and contributed a goal during the Sharks’ route of the Tigers in the first round at state.
Freshman Annie Wooten and senior Natalie McCann each scored two goals apiece as well to open this year’s state tournament.
The Sharks will host the Mosely High Dolphins out of Lynn Haven during the regional semifinal Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. The Dolphins defeated Fleming Island High 2-1 in the first round.
The Barracudas made some noise as well during the opening round of the state tournament as they defeated top-five ranked Gulf Breeze High 2-0 to pull off the upset as the No. 6 seed and advanced to face another major test on the road against No. 1 seed Chiles High in Tallahassee on Friday, Feb. 7 at
Alannah Zander has been clutch in goal for the Barracudas and the junior goalkeeper will look to continue to be a wall in net to help them continue their magical run this year.
