Last year, the Santa Fe boys soccer team doubled their win total from the previous season and won the Class 4A-District 2 title.

Despite lower expectations in 2025, the Raiders finished 14-4-2 against a difficult schedule, defeated Eastside, 3-0, to win the 3A-District 4 title, advanced to the second round of the FHSAA Class 3A state playoffs, and once again placed five players on the Bosshardt Realty All Area big school team (Class 3A-6A).

Leading the way was senior forward Giacomo Burgetto, who finished with a team-best 21 goals in 18 games for the Raiders.

“When we lost Clayton Morgan to a knee injury, we challenged our offense to offset his 25 goals that we anticipated and Giacomo tried to do it all by himself,” said Santa Fe coach Morgan Dall’Acqua, whose team lost at Wolfson (Jacksonville) in the second round of the state playoffs this year. “Giac was attached to so many of our ‘magic moments’ this season, whether it be the winner against Buchholz on opening night or his brace in the district championship.”

In early December, Burgetto had a pair of goals against Keystone Heights in a match featuring two of the top goal scorers in the country at the time.

Senior Aaron Wiley of Keystone Heights was held scoreless in that game, but he finished strong and was second in the voting for the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 3A Player of the Year.

“Senior captain who played left forward was the goal leader of the team,” said Keystone Heights coach Trevor Waters. “His speed picked up this year. He was on level by himself as he could blow past most defenders and put the ball in the far side of the goal with precision shooting. He had a great career at Keystone.”

Wiley led the Indians (11-7-3) with 33 goals this season and edged All Area forward Jonas Traktuev of Eastside, who finished third in the voting for the 3A POY.

Traktuev, who finished with 31 goals and three assists for the Rams (9-7-5), had all three goals in a 3-1 win against Keystone Heights in the 3A-District 4 Semifinals.

“Jonas is a great player who wore the jersey for the team and school,” said Eastside coach Gizmo Cifuentes. “He led by example and was indeed a pleasure being his coach even if was only a short time.”

The All Area midfielders include Anthony “Luke” Brunt and Noah Jaramillo (MF/F) of Keystone Heights, senior Cody Bass of Columbia (Lake City), and junior Wayne Boone of Santa Fe.

Brunt had 15 goals and 16 assists during his senior season.

“Anthony is one of the best midfielders to play at Keystone Heights,” Waters said. “His ability to see the whole play and know where to put the ball next to enable the team to score/assist. He is a playmaker and assist leader of the team. He is moving on to play at Trinity Christian College in Jacksonville.”

Jaramillo was third on the Indians with 11 goals and he added six assists.

“Junior striker plays with tremendous energy,” Waters said. “He can do it all. Great scorer and tremendous defender.  Noah has the knack to put the ball back into the net close to the goal for ‘Garbage Goals.’ He also would score when the team needed it most, so he was a clutch player.”

Boone was second on the Raiders with 13 goals and eight assists

“Wayne was in the shadow of a solid midfield in 23-24, so this season he was able to let his tactical and technical abilities shine,” Dall’Acqua said. “He and Kishore (Rose-Dewil) were a contributing factor to our success this season.”

Bass led Columbia (10-4-3) with 13 goals and four assists in 13 games.

Santa Fe seniors Deva Spradling and Jose Bustamante made the team as defenders, along with Buchholz (8-7) sophomore Tim Ortiz.

“Deva was really an unsung hero for us this season,” Dall’Acqua said. “I am a very happy Mainstreet Daily News and the voters recognized his value. He doesn’t make many mistakes and has the size and speed to cover a lot of ground and close down attacks.”

Dall’Acqua said Bustamante spent his first years as a student-athlete behind some upperclassmen that took a lot of time away from him.

“We challenged him at the end of last season to get himself in a position to get solid minutes for us this season and he embraced that and had the greatest off-season growth I have ever seen,” he said. “A solid performer for us all year. It makes me really happy when ‘if you put in work, good things will happen’ comes to fruition.”

Rounding out the All Area big school team is goalkeeper Mayer Steen of Santa Fe.

In 20 games, the sophomore finished with seven shutouts, 128 saves and a 1.810 goal against average (GAA).

“Nine out of 10 cardiologists recommend Mayer Steen to head coaches,” Dall’Acqua said. “He makes really difficult saves look easy and he has the total confidence from his coaches and team.”

Newberry (15-4-1) had a special year and led the way with five selections on the small school team (1A-2A) after winning its first district title in 23 years.

Forwards Lucas Nowels, a sophomore, and senior Maximum Dietz were the top two goal scorers for Newberry.

Nowels led the 2A-District 3 champion Panthers with 26 goals and he also added 14 assists for a total of 66 points.

“Lucas moved from wing to striker and had a breakout season this year, contributing 26 goals and 14 assists,” Doles said. “He’s a self-starter who conditions and trains regularly. I expect Lucas to be a dominant force in the district next season.”

Dietz was second on the Panthers in both goals (19) and assists (16).

“There are many aspects of Max’s play that are impressive to me (and overwhelming to an opponent),” Doles said. “He has great ball and body control. His feints and speed variations while on ball at game speed, moves the defender and allows him to take a path to the frame or set a teammate for a finish.”

They are joined on the team by senior forward Addisu Frisbie of P.K. Yonge and junior forward Thomas Gibson of Oak Hall (11-5).

Frisbie was among the area leaders with 31 goals in 20 games for the Blue Wave (14-5-3).

Gibson, and senior MF/F Yuyu Ynigo, helped lead the Eagles (11-5) to a 1A-District 2 runner-up finish and a spot in the second round of the 1A state playoffs.

Ynigo led Oak Hall with 23 goals and was second with 11 assists, while Gibson was second on the Eagles with 22 goals and a team-leading 16 assists.

Senior Eli Hunter of Newberry made the team as the only defender.

He averaged 1.4 goals per game with 15 goals in just 11 games and he also added seven assists.

“Eli’s size (6’5, 185) gives him an advantage in most every engagement on the field,” Doles said. “His technical skill and ball control are the best on the team. His ability to send a long ball along the edge of the touchline helped us extend possessions into the attacking third.”

Middle fielder Keegan Lowery had a big senior year for Newberry, finishing with a team-leading 23 assists. He was third on the Panthers with 17 goals and finished second on the team with 57 points.

“Keegan has served as the sole captain of the team for the last two years,” Doles said. “He leads by example and has a great soccer IQ. His technical skills are only surpassed by his tactical awareness. He reads the situation and usually makes the best decision.”

Rounding out the small school All Area team are junior MF/F Carlos Contreras of Branford, senior MF Christopher Zeppieri of P.K. Yonge and junior MF Miguel Gutierrez of Williston.

Contreras helped lead Branford to the 2A-District 2 title. The junior led the Buccaneers (10-8-1) with 18 goals, while Zeppieri finished second on the Blue Wave with 19 goals and he led the team with 15 assists.

Gutierrez had a team-leading 19 goals for Williston (12-6-2), which upset P.K. Yonge in the first round of the 2A state playoffs, followed by a loss at Episcopal (Jacksonville) in the 2A-Region 1 Semifinals.

Goalkeeper Cayden Francis of Newberry finished his junior season with 157 saves, an average of 8.7 per game, and a 1.609 GAA.

“Cayden has all of the physical attributes and skills,” said Newberry coach Jon Doles. “His vision, confidence and command of the backline are what set him above the other goalkeepers in our area.”

2024-25 Bosshardt Realty All Area Boys Small School Soccer (1A-2A)

GK – Cayden Francis, Newberry (JR)

DEF – Eli Hunter, Newberry (SR)

MF/F – Yuyu Ynigo, Oak Hall (SR)

MF/F – Carlos Contreras, Branford (JR)

MF – Keegan Lowry, Newberry (SR)

MF – Christopher Zeppieri, P.K. Yonge (SR)

MF – Miguel Gutierrez, Williston (JR)

F – Lucas Nowels, Newberry (SO)

F – Addisu Frisbie, P.K. Yonge (SR)

F – Thomas Gibson, Oak Hall (JR)

F – Maximus Dietz, Newberry (SR)

Honorable mention

Bell – Jaime Valencia (JR), Brandon Aguilar (JR), Ivan Trejo (SO)

Branford – Victor Hernandez (JR), Alejandro Contreras (SO), Alan McGriff III (FR)

Fort White – Andrew Clements (JR), Reuben Aguilar (JR)

Newberry – Zane Spires (SR), Jay Lopez (SR), Nathan Bulson (SO), Dylan Mobbs (SO)

Oak Hall – Cooper Coleman (JR), Thiago Bernis (SO), Chase Robinson (FR), Owen Shorter (FR)

P.K. Yonge – Ciaran Foley (SR), Mark Barrett (SR), Blake Firsching (JR), Davy Coleman (JR), Jack Reichardt (JR), Fisher Cooper (FR)

Trenton – Gus Ayers (SO), Davies Vasquez (FR)

Williston – Dary Osorio-Lopez (SR), Logan Navarro (SR), Mike De La Cruz (SR), Darwin Gonzales (SR), Adrian Celestino (SR), Braiden Muthard (JR)

2024-25 Bosshardt Realty All Area Boys Big School Soccer (3A-6A)

GK – Mayer Steen, Santa Fe (SO)

DEF – Tim Ortiz, Buchholz (SO)

DEF – Deva Spradling, Santa Fe (SR)

DEF – Jose Bustamante, Santa Fe (SR)

MF – Wayne Boone, Santa Fe (JR)

MF – Anthony Brunt, Keystone Heights (SR)

MF – Cody Bass, Columbia (SR)

MF/F – Noah Jaramillo, Keystone Heights (JR)

F – Giacomo Burgetto, Santa Fe (SR)

F – Aaron Wiley, Keystone Heights (SR)

F – Jonas Traktuev, Eastside (SR)

Honorable mention

Buchholz – Nicholas Rossi (SR), Lake Xue (SR), Carlos Cadet (JR), Jerry Yao (SO), Christian McDaniel (SO)

Columbia (Lake City) – Bobby Shotwell (SR), Nathan Matsubara (SR), Diego Garcia (SR), Brendan Schwartz (JR), Logan Wheeldon (SO)

Eastside – Eshan Kamal (SR), Shiven Sharma (JR), Loti Ward (SO), Chesley McDonald (FR)

Gainesville – Ian Wooden (JR)

Keystone Heights – Jacob Stahman (SR), Landon Spence (JR), Sam Wacha (JR)

Santa Fe (Alachua) – Kishore Rose-Dewil (SR), Paul Morgan (SR), Dharma Rico (JR), Mason Kramer (SO)

Suwannee (Live Oak) – Rember Alonso (SO), Ethan Valencia (FR)