The Williston boys soccer team has a motto that they live by, “One play at a time, one goal at a time, one game at a time.”
On Tuesday night at No. 3 seed P.K. Yonge, the No. 6 seed Red Devils made enough big plays in a 3-1 win in the FHSAA Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals.
It was the first regional playoff win in program history for Williston, which is only in its sixth year of existence.
“This squad has had to find its own identity this year,” said Williston coach Max Aguirre. “We graduated a lot of scoring power last year. We lost 64 goals between four players last year, so these guys have had to step out of their shadow and find their own identity, and it’s taken them a little while to do it. Our defense has been great all year, but our offense is just now starting to find its stride.”
The outcome was a reversal of the regular season score between the two teams, with P.K. Yonge claiming a 3-1 victory at Williston on Jan. 7.
The game was scoreless until senior midfielder Mike De La Cruz scored on a goal left of the net on an assist by sophomore Yandel Mujica with just two minutes remaining in the half.
“They were playing like it was, to me, it was a 50-50 game,” said P.K. Yonge coach Jose De Leon. “Towards the end, we had more shots on goal than they did, we just didn’t make it. They had fewer opportunities, and they made those opportunities count, and that’s how you win games so kudos to their team. They’re a great team.”
Several shots on goal by P.K. Yonge (14-5-3) just missed wide before the Blue Wave scored their only goal by senior Ciaran Foley with 4:02 remaining.
Meanwhile, three different players scored a goal for Williston, including what proved to be the game-winning goal after a deflection on a free kick by senior Darwin Gonzales.
Junior Braiden Muthard, who had a goal taken away in the first half on a handball foul, found the net following a deflection for a 2-0 lead a little over five minutes into the second half.
“Darwin takes a lot of our free kicks for us,” Aguirre said. “He’s got a floating ball that moves over the line nice, and he can judge his depths really well, and ones like Braiden, those guys are fearless when it comes to traffic. That’s part of being a defender and a lockdown, so when they get in traffic, they’re happy. It’s like second nature.”
They took a 3-0 lead with 5:30 to play on a hustle goal by Mujica when goalkeeper Reid Griffith came out of the goal, leaving Mujica wide open for the shot.
Williston (12-5-2) will travel on Friday to No. 2 seed Episcopal (Jacksonville), which eliminated No. 7 seed Taylor County (Perry), 5-0, to improve to 14-2-4.
P.K. Yonge 8, Lafayette (Mayo) 0 (GIRLS)
Senior Faith Hardy scored four goals as top seed P.K. Yonge eased past No. 8 seed Lafayette (Mayo), 8-0, in an FHSAA Class 2A-Region 1 Quarterfinal.
Hardy scored her fourth goal of the night with 18 seconds left in the first half on an assist by senior Emma Mansfield to ensure a victory after only one half of play.
“I’m really happy for the girls,” said P.K. Yonge girls coach Rebecca Schackow. “They were pretty unstoppable in the attack there and you can’t tell them to not go and try and score a goal…we were ready, and we knew we had to come out strong and we did.”
With less than nine minutes remaining in the half, Hardy scored three goals which began with a header on a corner kick by junior Paulina Cervantes for a 6-0 lead against the visiting Hornets (11-8-1) with 8:53 remaining in the half.
“It was beautiful,” Schacow said. “I’m so happy for her. We’ve been working really hard on finishing and especially finishing in congested areas with a tough back line. That’s what we faced tonight and so they really stepped up to that challenge.”
Goalkeeper Norah Pancoast helped preserve the third straight shutout for P.K. Yonge (15-2-1), which will host No. 4 seed Maclay (Tallahassee) at 7 p.m. on Friday in the regional semifinals.
FHSAA Regional Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 11
Area teams in bold
GIRLS SOCCER
Class 2A-Region 1
1 P.K. Yonge 8, 8 Lafayette (Mayo) 0
4 Maclay (Tallahassee) 8, 5 Williston 1
3 Episcopal (Jacksonville) 3, 6 Newberry 0
Class 3A-Region 1
1 Pensacola Catholic 3, 8 Santa Fe (Alachua) 0
FHSAA Regional Semifinal – Friday, Feb. 14
Class 2A-Region 1
4 Maclay (Tallahassee) at 1 P.K. Yonge, 7 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
FHSAA Regional Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 11
Class 1A-Region 1
4 Oak Hall 7, 5 Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville) 1
Class 2A-Region 1
1 Maclay (Tallahassee) 8, 8 Branford 0
5 Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 2, 4 Newberry 1
6 Williston 3, 3 P.K. Yonge 1
Class 3A-Region 1
2 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) 6, 7 Keystone Heights 2
4 Santa Fe (Alachua) 3, 5 Bolles (Jacksonville) 0
FHSAA Regional Semifinals – Friday, Feb. 14
Class 1A-Region 1
4 Oak Hall at 1 St. Joseph (St. Augustine)
Class 2A-Region 1
6 Williston at 2 Episcopal (Jacksonville)
Class 3A-Region 1
4 Santa Fe (Alachua) at 1 Wolfson (Jacksonville)
