Olivia Chase's hat trick gives Sandcrabs a ‘claws up’ over Hawks

The Seabreeze striker scored three goals in the 4-1 win against Spruce Creek on Dec. 16.

  • By Michele Meyers
  • | 6:05 p.m. December 18, 2024
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Sports
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Forward Olivia Chase scored three goals to lead the Seabreeze girls soccer team to a 4-1 victory over rival Spruce Creek in a road game on Dec. 16. The win put a halt to the Sandcrabs’ two-game losing streak, improving their record to 3-5-3. Spruce Creek fell to 8-4-1.

Within the first few minutes after the kickoff, Chase was fouled inside the penalty box by Creek goalkeeper Payton Drexler which resulted in a penalty kick and the Sandcrabs’ first goal. Ten minutes later, Annabel Thistle drove the ball into the back of the net. The score was 2-0 at halftime when Seabreeze head coach Eli Freidus talked to his team.

“Top to bottom, good first half,” Freidus said. “You guys know what to do. After 20 minutes, it doesn’t change. They get a goal, it’s game on; we get a goal, it’s game over. I want you guys to win so bad, more than you do, probably.” 

Chase started the second half with another goal. Spruce Creek's Jillian Truax answered with a goal of her own, making the score to 3-1. With 49 seconds left, Chase scored again to complete the hat trick.

Now we’re into our local phase. I’ve got two goals: I want to be the best team locally and that means winning the Five Star (Conference) and I want to make a run into the postseason.
— ELI FREIDUS, Seabreeze girls soccer coach

Chase is the team’s top scorer with eight goals and three assists. Thistle has had four goals and three assists. Last season, the pair racked up the most goals on the team — 17 for Chase and 11 for Thistle. They were key to taking Seabreeze to the Region 2-5A final where the Sandcrabs lost 1-0 to Horizon.

Freidus said Spruce Creek did not have a response for his attackers.

“Creek is a big rivalry for us,” Freidus said. “They have beaten a lot of good teams, and I know they want to beat us pretty bad. They just didn’t have an answer for our players up top and our midfield was finding them.” 

Last school year, eight starters graduated, leaving Seabreeze to battle a tough schedule this season with eight freshmen with a few of the nine seniors out with injuries. They have played five teams ranked in Florida High School Athletic Association’s top 75 — Edgewood, Nease, Lake Mary, Oviedo and Spruce Creek. The second match of the season was a 2-0 loss against 16th-ranked Lake Mary.

Freshman Ava Arnold was a starting midfielder against Spruce Creek, sharing time with fellow freshman Gabby Dioquino. Freidus also played freshman Hunter Byers, who he said is having an exceptional season playing outside defensive back.

“Throughout the year, I could name all of them as having shown improvement,” Freidus said. “This is really the first time for all these girls being the main players. Liv and Annabelle have been good for several years. For our defense, Sophie Fabulich has been really good back there and Kayla Fredericks has been strong.”

Freidus said his team will prepare for its next game against New Smyrna Beach on Thursday, Dec. 19. Seabreeze will face Skya Hoth who has scored 16 goals and has 11 assists this season for the Barracudas, who are 8-3-1.

“Now we’re into our local phase,” Freidus said. “I’ve got two goals: I want to be the best team locally and that means winning the Five Star (Conference), and I want to make a run into the postseason. I think our schedule helps us. We see teams that play fast all the time. It helps us play fast.”

After the game, Freidus told his players to celebrate the win then think about what they did well and what they need to work on.

“Good stuff,” Freidus said. “We needed the win, we got the win. They had a good performance.”

 

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