- November 5, 2024
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The dream season for the Matanzas girls soccer team continued Monday night.
The Lady Pirates (17-1-1) picked up a scoreless draw with Seabreeze (12-1-5) in a heavyweight battle of two District 6-3A teams.
With the draw, Matanzas secured the No. 1 seed in next month’s district tournament.
“The game plan was to win, of course,” Matanzas coach Tony Benvenuto said after the game. “We always want to win. But we also knew that they had a lot of speed, and if we could contain their speed, we would be successful.”
Back in November, Matanzas topped Seabreeze, 3-2, in Ormond Beach. To date, it’s Seabreeze’s only loss this season.
On Monday, Matanzas had the better of the scoring opportunities, outshooting the Lady Sandcrabs, 7-4. Freshman Miracle Porter had several shots that were blocked by defenders and sent out for corner kicks, but the Lady Pirates couldn’t bag a goal.
As the top seed, Matanzas will get a first-round bye. If the Lady Pirates were to win their semifinal game, they would host the district championship game. All signs point to a Matanzas vs. Seabreeze final. (Seabreeze will be the 2-seed in the district tournament, and so the two teams wouldn’t meet until the finals.)
Benvenuto said it will be important to host the district championship, especially if it’s against Seabreeze.
“We want to play them here because I think our field is not as wide as theirs, and we can contain their (speed),” he said.
Regardless of what happens in January, Matanzas is well on its way to one of its best seasons in school history — if not the best.
Matanzas has dominated pretty much every opponent this season: The Lady Pirates have scored 124 goals this season and allowed just six.
They are averaging almost seven goals game.
But, for as much success Matanzas has had this season, there has been plenty of adversity, too. Three starters have been lost for the season because of injuries: Forward Gabbi Paiz, who set the career goal-scoring record earlier this year when she reached 100 goals, is out for the rest of the year because of a knee injury she sustained during the Nov. 15 loss to Flagler Palm Coast.
Savannah Tyler and Abby Barker are also out for the rest of the season because of injuries.
On Monday, starter Haley McQueen rejoined the team after missing 16 games with a hip injury.
"Haley's return will give our defense a big boost, and it will allow me to use Bailey Pickering at different positions the rest of the year," Benvenuto said.
Freshmen have stepped up, too. Porter has been a nightmare for practically every defense she has faced, scoring 47 goals through 19 games (about 2.5 goals/game) — already setting a single-season record at Matanzas. Claire Slamka, Kylie Dahlberg and Leana Ballschmieder, all freshmen, have provided Benvenuto with “good minutes.”
“The younger players matured real fast,” Benvenuto said. “Again, competition may not be as strong, but they’re doing everything — they’re scoring goals, they’re growing into the game. And I’m hoping that by the time we get to the district finals and maybe regionals, we’ll be able to have everything in order as far as formation and personnel.”
Matanzas hosts St. Augustine on Dec. 19 and then Flagler Palm Coast on Jan. 4. The Lady Pirates will play Fleming Island on Jan. 7 in the St. Johns River Athletic Conference championship.
