Seminole, Hagerty to meet at crossroad?
A shift in power in Seminole County has the top boys soccer teams in Class 5A, District 3 drifting in different directions entering the playoffs.
Seminole’s 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Hagerty on Jan. 11 gave the program its first Seminole Athletic Conference title and the No. 1 seed for this week’s district tournament. It also sent the Huskies into a tailspin.
Barring a run by thirdseeded Lake Mary, which has closed the gap on the two frontrunners, the rubber match between Seminole and second seed Hagerty could take place in Friday’s district finals. Hagerty won their first meeting 1-0 on Dec. 2.
Tournament time gets underway today for 73 area teams. Admission is $6. Champions and runnersup advance to Feb. 1 region quarterfinals throughout five classifications.
“Having the No. 1 seed was the goal,” Seminole coach Brian Emrick said. “I wanted to try to avoid Lake Mary in the semifinals, not only because they’re a good team, but because it’s a rivalry game and anything can happen in rivalry games.”
Seminole’s success is a year ahead of schedule, anchored by a starting lineup featuring six juniors in their third year on varsity. Jordan Katz, out the past two seasons due to injury, is the lone senior starter.
The addition of Samuel Lugo and former Orlando City academy player John Matos has helped offset the loss of senior captain Connor Fogleman, who suffered a season-ending injury in the second game.
Hagerty started the year 12-0-1 and appeared in position to be the top seed in the district and earn at least a share of the SAC title for the first time. The loss to Seminole derailed those dreams, followed by setbacks to Lake Mary and Orange City University by a combined 7-1 margin.
“The games we lost just weren’t normal games,” Hagerty coach Mike McAvoy said. “It really put a damper on these guys. It was psychological more than anything else.”
The Huskies shook off the slump in decisive wins over Orlando University (3-0) and East River (8-0) late last week. McAvoy is hopeful winning becomes contagious as they’ll need wins over Lake Brantley and likely Lake Mary to reach regionals.
Losing a tiebreaker to West Orange for the top seed in Class 5A, District 4 might be Olympia.
A West Orange win over Dr. Phillips, coupled with a tie between Olympia and the Panthers, gave the Warriors a bye to open districts.
That means West Orange faces either No. 4 Dr. Phillips or No. 5 Evans in the semis and No. 2 Olympia avoids a potentially heated semifinal.
“Our district isn’t easy anyway, but being the No. 1 seed might’ve been the tougher road for us,” Olympia coach Lou Romao said.
“Our emotions with Dr. Phillips and Evans have run much higher than the others in recent years.”
West Orange and Olympia tied 2-2 on Nov. 14.
That was after the Warriors tied Evans 1-1 and before it beat DP 2-0 on Jan. 11.
Olympia and Dr. Phillips finished 1-1 on Nov. 30 in the a blessing for Titans’ only other close district contest.
Should Olympia advance past Wekiva they’d face the winner of No. 3 Ocoee and No. 6 Apopka in the semis, teams they beat by a combined 6-1 score.
The most unpredictable district in the area involves east Orange County teams, including last year’s 5A state runners-up.
Winter Park (6-1-1 in District 5) has reloaded for another deep tournament run and should have little trouble opening against No. 8 Orlando University (0-6-2).
They may face a formidable challenge from either No. 4 Timber Creek (4-2-2) or No. 5 Oak Ridge (4-3-1) in the semis despite success in December against both.
The match to keep an eye on is No. 2 Freedom (5-2-1) vs. No. 7 Boone (3-4-1) as the Braves have peaked at the right time.
Boone, which handed Freedom a 1-0 loss Dec. 1, recorded impressive wins against Lake Nona and Ocoee and a tie against Olympia the past two weeks.
The winner advances against either No. 3 Lake Nona (5-3-0) or No. 6 Cypress Creek (4-4-0). Records in the Sentinel rankings are through the end of the regular season. Previous rankings are in parentheses. 1. (4) Seminole (18-2-3) 2. (3) Olympia (17-2-4) 3. (5) Freedom (17-3-2) 4. (NR) Winter Park (10-1-2) 5. (NR) Daytona Beach Seabreeze (17-0-2) 6. (1) Hagerty (15-3-1) PAIRINGS