Seabreeze girls soccer team wins district championship; boys finish runner-up

Annabel Thistle scored the only goal in the 1-0 win against New Smyrna Beach in the district championship game.

  • By Michele Meyers
  • | 8:00 a.m. January 30, 2025
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Sports
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The Seabreeze girls soccer team clawed its way through a difficult soccer season to clinch the District 6-5A championship with a 1-0 win over New Smyrna Beach on Monday, Jan. 27. New Smyrna Beach grabbed the boys district title with an 8-1 win against Seabreeze.

With 3:30 left in the girls title game, senior Annabel Thistle zinged the ball into the net from 16 yards. NSB striker Skya Horth answered with a drive toward the goal which led to a corner kick, a free kick and a save by Seabreeze goalie Logan Fletcher. The score remained 1-0.

Seabreeze girls head soccer coach Eli Freidus was jubilant after his five-second countdown to the final buzzer. He spoke to his players after they received the championship trophy. 

“We are the best team in the area,” he said. “We are the only team that has (beaten) everybody else. You kept fighting. You kept fighting.You kept fighting. That is one of the games I’m most proud of as a coach. I love the fight.”

Thistle said it was what the team needed after finishing third in the Five Star Conference tournament. 

“It’s so exciting to see our season turn around like this because we had a rough start and this showed us that we were capable of doing it,” Thistle said. “It was unexpected, so I felt a wave of excitement because I knew the goal uplifted my team. I think this is what we needed.”

In the boys final, Seabreeze scored the first goal 22 minutes into the game after Owen Applegarth dropped a corner kick amid the chaos in the box and the ball went in. The Sandcrabs trailed the Barracudas 2-1 before halftime. New Smyrna Beach scored their remaining six goals after Seabreeze goalkeeper Chandler Klepper was replaced at the start of the second half due to a serious concussion.

We are the best team in the area. We are the only team that has (beaten) everybody else. You kept fighting. You kept fighting. That is one of the games I’m most proud of as a coach. I love the fight.
—ELI FREIDUS, Seabreeze girls head soccer coach to his players

Both Seabreeze teams won their district semifinal games in a doubleheader against Pine Ridge on Friday, Jan. 24, at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex to advance to the championship games. Both Sandcrabs teams dominated early against the Panthers. The girls won 6-2 and the boys triumphed 6-1.

Freidus said his starters performed well in the first half of the semifinal which allowed him to play new players. 

“We won,” he said. “Our goal was to come out with the win. We have a bunch of nagging injuries with a lot of players, so we just want to heal up. We get the win, we stay healthy. That’s what we wanted.” 

The district semifinal was Kirsten Glaenzer’s first game back after missing most of the season due to a stress fracture sustained while running cross country. Glaenzer had the assist to freshman Ava Arnold's final goal of the game.

“I am so excited to be back,” Glaenzer said. “When coach called my name to go out, I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy. I asked if I could play the whole game.”

Thistle scored two goals, Olivia Chase had one goal and two assists, Cora Clayton had one goal and one assist and Emily Barnes had one goal against Pine Ridge.

Luke Harrell led the Seabreeze boys against the Panthers with two goals and two assists. One assist came from a free kick that soared above a wall of Panther players and dropped in front of Gavin Dioquino who headed it in for Seabreeze’s final goal of the game. Dioquino was honored as the Seabreeze High School Student-Athlete of the Month last week by the Ormond Beach Lions Club.

Harrell is ranked first in goals for the team with 14 and second in assists with nine this season. He said he could not have scored his goals without help from his teammates.

“It is a great result from the boys because we lost to this team (Pine Ridge) 4-2 at the start of the season,” Harrell said. “It’s just great for us to grab ourselves off the floor and push through for the win. We were motivated to beat them this time, especially since they were posting stuff about it. We had to get our business done.” 

Seabreeze boys head coach Alex Perez said at the start of the season it was a big transition for the team when he came in as the new coach implementing a new system. They lost six games in the first half of the season. On Dec. 10, they won 3-2 against DeLand which launched a four-game win streak.

“When this team is under pressure, they play like it’s the last chance we’ve got— win and move forward or lose and go home,” Perez said. “The way we played tonight is like the way we’ve practiced the past three days — the intensity, the passing, the scoring goals, the shooting. That’s what we’re looking for as a team.”

Perez said the district semifinal was essentially over in 20 minutes because they played together as a team.

“They prepared themselves also,” Perez said. “I can say, the way they have been practicing is like never before. The message we sent as the coaches is, it’s only one night and it’s got to be your night.”

Perez said, mentally, his players could not get back into the district final after their goalkeeper was injured.

“It wasn’t a very good second half after what happened with our goalkeeper,” Perez said “Everyone was more concerned about his health than on the game. We gave them a run for the money (in the) first half, but after that incident, players were there physically but not mentally.”

Before the girls final, Freidus said he really did not strategize with his team about New Smyrna Beach. He and assistant coach George Bellingham discussed how good their players are versus the New Smyrna Beach players. 

“We have good players and we feel like we can play our game against anybody, but we have to do it for the whole game,” Freidus said. “We played 80 minutes of tough soccer. That’s what I like. They fought — they had their heads in the game. They had that mental toughness. Win or lose, that’s what we want.”

The Seabreeze girls will play in the Region 2-5A quarterfinals on Feb. 4. Freidus said his players will spend the week healing injuries and working on their touches.

“On paper, I don’t think there is anybody in our region that on the right day we couldn’t beat,” he said. 

 

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