Soccer teams try to heat back up
Seminole, which is 13-0-2 in boys soccer and ranked No. 10 nationally, has its first game in 15 days when it plays tonight at Vero Beach. Both reached the Class 5A final four a year ago.
The Seminoles then play a marquee matchup at home on Monday at 5 p.m. against Port Orange Spruce Creek (16-0-0), followed by a Wednesday home match against conference rival Lake Mary (9-1-1).
“It’s a touch stretch ’Noles coach
But he notes that it’s not like all of his players took two weeks off. Most were freed up to rejoin their club teams for the December travel team period that is a key window in the college recruiting process.
Seminole lost last season’s area player of the year, , to a hamstring injury early in a Dec. 18 match against Oviedo and the ’Noles ended up playing the Lions to a 1-1 draw and then were tied two days later by Hagerty, 2-2. Neff, a senior, is expected to be back on the field Friday.
Seminole is tied for 10 in the United Soccer Coaches/USA Today national rankings for winter season teams.
Oviedo (11-0-0), which has yet to surrender a goal, is No 6 in the girls poll. The Lions, the reigning champions in 5A, return to play on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. home game vs. defending 3A champ Merritt Island (12-1-0). for us,” said
Intriguing matchups will take place this weekend at the annual Winter Park Girls Soccer Showcase today and Saturday.
The event, which gives area players a chance to be seen by college coaches, features 12 teams in pool-style play. Games will take place simultaneously at the Showalter Field stadium and an adjacent field.
Timber Creek takes on Lake Highland Prep and Lake Nona faces Edgewater today at 4:30 p.m. in the opening round of six matches that night. Twelve games will take place on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Timber Creek (10-1-1) freshman
has scored 12 goals and added four assists this season for the Wolves. Seniors and
each have a team-best seven assists.
The host Wildcats (13-2-2) have a pair of big matchups Saturday. Winter Park faces Harmony (12-0-2) at 10:30 a.m. and plays against Daytona Beach Seabreeze (12-3-0) at 3 p.m. Harmony has a trio of juniors —
and – who have each scored 13 goals this season.
Colonial’s girls basketball team faces a challenging stretch when it returns to the court for the first time in 2018 tonight at Orlando Christian Prep’s Showdown in O-Town.
The Grenadiers (10-4), who’ve lost three of their past six since winning seven in a row, face Lake Highland Prep (7-5) at 8 p.m. at OCP.
LHP is coming off of a tough stretch itself after suffering four losses in five games dating back to a tournament in Phoenix just before Christmas.
After tipping off with the Highlanders, Colonial takes on a pair of district foes next week as they look to keep pace with Class 9A, District 4 leader Timber Creek (13-2, 4-1). The Grenadiers host Boone (8-4, 3-1) on Wednesday then travel to Winter Park (6-4, 0-2) on Friday. leads Colonial with 16.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Boone matches up with Showdown host OCP (13-2) tonight at 6:30.
Montverde Academy (16-0), now back into a familiar perch as the consensus national No. 1 boys basketball team, goes to Wheeling, W. Va., for two games this weekend. The Eagles play Warminster, Pa., Archbishop Wood on Friday night and a top 10 team in La Lumiere (10-1) of Indiana on Saturday.
Hagerty (3-2) plays its first boys basketball game in 28 days when it hosts backyard rival Oviedo (12-1) on Friday night at 7:30. Huskies coach
said he had to reschedule five games to after New Year’s Day eight years ago and has since adopted the scheduling philosophy of lots of preparation and practice in December and then 15-20 games squeezed into five or six weeks. Winter Springs sophomore
made 11 3-point shots on his way to 37 points in an 87-73 win over Lake Mary Prep on Wednesday.