P.K. Yonge blanks Keystone Heights in playoff opener

Sometimes beating a team three times in a season can be difficult, but not for the P.K. Yonge girls soccer team.

A week after blanking Keystone Heights, 5-0, in the District 4-3A championship game, the Lady Blue Wave returned home to open up the Region 1-3A playoffs against the same Indians.

After a slow start, No. 1 seed P.K. Yonge pulled away for an 8-0 mercy rule win and advanced to the regional semifinal against Maclay (Tallahassee) on Friday night.

The Blue Wave (14-3-3) had won the previous two meetings this season against Keystone Heights by a combined 13-0.

In this matchup, the Blue Wave didn’t get on the board until 12 minutes into the first half. Sophomore Paulina Cervantes scored off an assist from junior Mae Dodd, and Cervantes beat freshman goalkeeper Xana Briley.  

Eight minutes later, junior Faith Hardy, who led the Blue Wave with 32 goals this season, received a pass from junior Emma Mansfield and scored right down the middle for a 2-0 lead.

But that was all that P.K. Yonge could get in the first half as Briley made save after tough save. She ended up with 23 saves for Keystone Heights (12-7-1). The Blue Wave ended up with 29 shots and allowed only one to Keystone Heights.

“I thought their keeper was excellent,” P.K. Yonge coach Rebecca Schackow said. “We saw both of their keepers in the game last week (against Keystone) but I believe this was their starter who played us tonight. She definitely kept them in the game.”

But P.K. Yonge poured in the goals in the second half. A little more than five minutes into the second half, junior Elliot Pancoast scored unassisted to make it 3-0, and senior Marleigh Schackow increased the lead to 4-0 less than two minutes later on a shot that went through Briley’s legs.

“It’s really hard to play a team three times, especially a team like Keystone who’s willing to adjust their play based on what they know about us,” Marleigh Schackow said. “That’s a challenge and honestly we didn’t know what to expect or what they changed.”

Eighth grader T Tomlinson scored with 24:53 left with an assist from Schackow. with Hardy, Dodd, and Taylor Hass also scoring to get to the eight-goal mercy rule with 8:44 left.

“It was exciting to see, it wasn’t just Faith tonight,” Rebecca Shackow said. “We got to play everyone on our team that was healthy enough to play, and one or two players scored their first goals.”

P.K. Yonge boys advance to regional semifinals

The P.K. Yonge boys soccer team won its first regional quarterfinals contest in 13 years when it traveled to Tallahassee and defeated No. 4 seed North Bay Haven Academy, 4-0, in the 3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals.

“It takes a village,” said P.K. Yonge coach José De León in an email to Mainstreet. “This was another team effort by a team that believes in how each individual contributes to the collective. This is a team that is fully invested in our system, in our philosophy of the game, and in each other. Again, we had a plan, after a few modifications, and we executed it very efficiently from the start to the finish. These boys are the most fun and cohesive crew I have ever coached, period!”

The 20-2 Blue Wave struck first when junior Ciaran Foley scored on an assist by junior Addisu Frisbie at the 14:19 mark. Foley scored again off a pass from senior Sebastiaan Hochman at the 17:35 mark.

“I feel like today’s game was a great game,” said Foley in an email. “The team played really hard and fought for everything. The key to me scoring was just shooting the ball when I had an open shot. We planned on capitalizing on North Bay’s weaknesses in the back.”

Senior Nathan Goble then scored at the 41:00 mark off a corner kick from junior Chris Zeppieri.

“Our whole team is a true masterclass of mentality, grit, and passion for the game.” – said Goble in an email.

P.K. Yonge senior Ibrahim Seck made a huge save from his goalkeeper spot when a North Haven Bay player took a shot from the top of the 18-yard box just before the water break in the second half.

The Blue Wave closed its scoring when sophomore Davy Coleman, off a Goble throw in that the North Bay Haven goalkeeper punched away, caught the ball off a bounce from a defender and nailed a shot into the bottom left corner at the 64:06 mark.

“I think we won because we played our game to our strengths and kept our composure when we were up,” said Coleman in an email. “I scored because I kept trying what was working in previous games until I got my chance to shoot.”

P.K. Yonge returns to Tallahassee on Friday where it will play top-seed Mclcay at 7 p.m.

SOCCER

GIRLS

Tuesday, Feb. 6
3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
1 P.K. Yonge 8, 8 Keystone Heights 0

4A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
2 Stanton (Jacksonville) 5, 7 Santa Fe (Alachua) 0

Friday, Feb. 9
3A-Region 1 Semifinals
5 Maclay (Tallahassee) at 1 P.K. Yonge, 7 p.m.

BOYS

Tuesday, Feb. 6
2A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
8 Community Christian (Tallahassee) 1, 1 Oak Hall 0
4 Bell 2, 5 Academy at the Lakes (Land O’ Lakes) 1

3A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
5 P.K. Yonge 4, 4 North Bay Haven Academy (Panama City) 0

4A-Region 1 Quarterfinals
7 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) 2, 2 Santa Fe (Alachua) 1

Friday, Feb. 9
2A-Region 1 Semifinals
8 Community Christian (Tallahassee) at 4 Bell, 7 p.m.

3A-Region 1 Regional Quarterfinals
5 P.K. Yonge at 1 Mclay (Tallahassee), 7 p.m.

Editor’s note: In the P.K. Yonge girls game, the player scoring the first goal of the contest was misidentified as Marin Best and it was actually Paulina Cervantes.