- Santa Fe boys soccer team tied 2-2 and won a 4-2 penalty shootout against South Walton in a Class 3A-Region 1 Semifinal on Feb. 10.
- The Raiders, seeded No. 3, will host Pensacola Catholic in the regional final after Pensacola Catholic upset top seed North Bay Haven.
- Freshman goalkeeper Hunter LaLonde made two key saves and scored the winning penalty kick to help Santa Fe advance to the final four.
With its season on the line, the Santa Fe boys soccer team trailed visiting South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) at the half in an FHSAA Class 3A-Region 1 Semifinal.
But on Tuesday night in Alachua, the Raiders eventually tied it, got it to overtime with the score tied 2-2, and forced a sudden death.
It took penalty kicks, but No. 3 seed Santa Fe (13-4-3) advanced in a 4-2 shootout against the No. 7 seed Seahawks (6-10-4).
The win, coupled with No. 5 seed Pensacola Catholic’s upset of top seed North Bay Haven (Panama City) in the other regional semifinal, ensures another home game.
Santa Fe, which lost at Wolfson (Jacksonville) in last year’s regional semifinals, will host Pensacola Catholic on Friday the 13th in an FHSAA Class 3A-Region 1 Final.
“It’s something that we’ve fought real hard for for a long time,” Santa Fe coach Morgan Dall’Acqua told Mainstreet correspondent Matthew Kilgore after the game. “The fact that we went to pens (penalty kicks), and we practice pens for years and we haven’t had the opportunity, tonight I think it showed. We had a heck of a performance by our freshman goalkeeper (Hunter LaLonde) with two big saves, and then the opportunity to win in the clutch and win a game for this program. It’s a huge outing.”
In addition to his keeper duties, LaLonde had one more big moment when he also delivered the winning kick to put the Raiders within a game of the final four.
“It was nervous,” LaLonde said. “I told coach that I was nervous about taking a fifth pen, and the two saves coming after and I knew I had to take the fifth pen. I was nervous, but right when it hit the back of the net, it felt great.”
Boys Soccer results
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Class 1A-Region 1 Semifinal
1 University Christian (Jacksonville) 1, 5 Oak Hall 0
Class 2A-Region 1 Semifinal
4 Williston 2, 1 Maclay (Tallahassee) 2 (Williston wins shootout 1-0)
2 Episcopal (Jacksonville) 3, 3 P.K. Yonge 1
Class 3A-Region 1
3 Santa Fe (Alachua) 2, 7 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) 2 (SF wins shootout 4-2)
Thursday, Feb. 12
Class 6A-Region 1 Semifinal
8 South Lake (Groveland) at 5 Buchholz, 6 p.m.