It was a big night in Northeast Florida on Wednesday, as five local area teams punched their ticket to the FHSAA State Final 4. The Boys Soccer State semifinals will be played this Saturday.
7A: Mandarin 4 Creekside 2
Senior Pedro Alarcon hit a free kick from 25-yards out to the eruption of his teammates and the crowd, as Mandarin defeated Creekside 4-2 to advance to the FHSAA Final 4. Alarcon hit two goals on the night, and the other two were scored by juniors Adis Mesic and Antonio Mancinotti for the Mustangs sealed the win.
Creekside finished the season 15-4-2 and put up a valiant effort in the game, as sophomore Cameron Mueller hit two goals with one assisted by senior Zach Bender in the game. Mandarin (17-3) will be at Plant (21-3-1) on Saturday.
6A: Ponte Vedra defeated Clermont East Ridge 2-1 in their regional final contest to advance to the Final 4. Andres Villasana scored two goals on the evening. Will Sheehan recorded 6 saves in the big playoff bout. For the Sharks, they have avenged their first round playoff loss last year and more as they are just one win away from heading to the state championship. They recently advanced to the Final 4 in the 2018-2019 season famously falling to Seabreeze 4-3 in a shootout. PV (16-0-3) will be in Miami at Doral Academy (14-2-3) on Saturday.
4A Bishop Kenny defeated South Walton 1-0 in a shootout to advance to the Final 4. It came down to penalty kicks after two halves of defense by two great teams. Seniors Nathan Hawara Jacob Moran and Martin Pineros have led the Crusaders this year and it was no difference in the playoff matchup. Moran stepped up big to blank the Seahawks. BKHS(16-8-1) will be at Bishop Moore (18-3-5) on Saturday.
3A Bolles defeated Pensacola Catholic 2-0 Jack Leake and Sean Breuer both scored in the contest for the Bulldogs. Bolles (15-2) will be at Everglades/LaSalle on Saturday. Bolles fell in the Final 4 last season to Tampa Catholic. They look to avenge the loss.
2A: St. Joseph (11-5-2) will play at Pine (15-0) on Saturday after the Flashes defeated Port St. Joe 2-0 in their Regional Final contest. Senior Ryan Hunt scored on a penalty kick while Charles Antwon Hodon scored another goal to defeat the Tiger Sharks.
