Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a summer series revisiting the best of “The Prep Zone” sports show at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville, featuring interviews with area coaches and players with host Mike Ridaught from the 2024-25 season.
The P.K. Yonge girls soccer team, along with head coach Rebecca Schackow, the Bosshardt Realty Small School Girls Coach of the Year, joined Mainstreet Daily News Sports Director Mike Ridaught on his weekly high school sports show on Feb. 5.
Coming off their first final four berth in program history, the Lady Blue Wave won their sixth straight district title. P.K. Yonge advanced to its fourth straight region final before falling one game shy of a second straight final four appearance with a double overtime home loss to Episcopal (Jacksonville) in the Class 2A-Region 1 Final.
Below are excerpts from the Feb. 5 interview — edited for length and clarity — of The Prep Zone’s interview. You can listen to the full conversation, which is archived online.
Q: It’s been a really good year for you so far against a very difficult schedule and you just won your sixth straight district title.
Rebecca Schackow: We’ve had a wonderful season. I’m so happy for our girls and proud of the team. We won another district championship, which is a very tough thing to do, and we had to work hard to get that victory. We’re excited about that. And then we also ended up getting the No. 1 seed in the regional rankings, which set us up to host the first round and beyond, hopefully the (entire) regional tournament. So, we’re in a good spot, and we’re really pleased with that outcome.
Q: You were dominant in the district championship game. I think you had eight different players who had a shot on goal in the first half, and then for the whole game, your opponent had zero shots on goal.
Rebecca Schackow: We have definitely been working on our attack, all players becoming great attackers and combining and making good choices in the final third. And I just feel like that is an area we’ve tried to improve in, and it is showing, so it makes me very pleased and feeling confident and proud of our team that we’re working on something and seeing some results. Now, our shot percentage is not always great when we play some of the really hard teams, so we’re going to try to make even smarter decisions and make our shots even better. But it is good to see more players contributing, not just one center forward or one or two players, but having eight girls taking smart shots is pretty cool to see and a lot of fun to watch. It’s a good game when you see that happening.
Q: Your two losses this season have come against really tough competition…and the one tie came on the road against Lakeland Christian, which had won three straight state titles, and it ended up in a scoreless tie.
Rebecca Schackow: We love that experience. That was a top-notch experience. Lakeland Christian is a beautiful school, great facility. We made a whole day out of it. We had a huge crowd follow us down there. It just felt different than a regular season game. It was very special. And then they’re an excellent, excellent soccer program. So, we gained a lot just going up against them. They’re very fit, very strong, they’re aggressive, they’re smart. We love getting the opportunity to play teams like that.
Q: Faith, congratulations on getting an opportunity to go to the next level. You’ve signed with Palm Beach Atlantic. How much does or did it take pressure off you now that you’ve gotten that out of the way, and just focus on high school?
Faith Hardy (SR): Oh, so much pressure. The recruiting process was a lot of work, and especially since we had to travel to Jacksonville to get on a pretty good team, it was just so much pressure taken off my back and I could just actually focus on my love for the sport, rather than looking to impress so many college coaches.
Q: Congratulations on a hat trick in the district championship game. How does it feel for you personally to have been a part of five straight district titles?
Faith Hardy (SR): It was awesome because we got to play a new opponent (Newberry). My last four years we played Keystone, and then I think the year before was also Keystone, and so just to have a new competitor, it’s just awesome.
Q: Emma, it was your sixth straight district title. What was it like to be a part of another one?
Emma Mansfield (SR): It’s great. Obviously, we work hard every year to get to this point, so our hard work has been showing up these past six years. Obviously, my sixth-grade year, a little baby, ended up losing, but just from that point on, just being consistent and working hard every year.
Q: You’ve known Coach Schackow for a long time. What has she been like?
Emma Mansfield (SR): She’s great. She’s always encouraged us to be the best on and off the field. Just teaching me how to be a part of a great team, and respect, how to respect people on and off the field. It’s been great.
Q: Congratulations on signing with the University of South Carolina Aiken. You’ll get a chance to play at the next level. What was it about USC Aiken?
Mae Dodd (SR): Thank you. So I went on campus, and it just felt similar to what they had said. I loved the culture, and when I went there, I kind of felt like I knew it was the right place for me. I loved the coaching staff and the girls, and it just seemed like a good fit.
Q: How much of a motivator was it after the loss to Montverde Academy (2024 state semifinals) to get better and get back?
Mae Dodd (SR): You have no idea. I mean, it was really great being able to taste that Final Four, but I think losing it, we held them for so long, and then losing it, it made us want it so much more this year, which I think is awesome that we have the most of the same core group of girls that were able to experience it to want it again.
Q: Elliot Pancoast has signed with Clark University. Tell us a little bit about Clark University.
Elliot Pancoast (SR): Clark University is in Worcester, Massachusetts, which is right outside Boston. I signed with them earlier this year after getting to go on a visit in September, and I really just fell in love with the team, and the coaching staff were phenomenal. I really just thought it was a place where I could see myself being able to thrive. And it’s, go on an adventure, get to explore a new area of the country a little bit. So I think it will be fun.