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The road to state: Here's each Gainesville area soccer team's path to the FHSAA Final Four

noah ram, gainesville sun
·5 min read

An odyssey on pitches across North Central Florida in November finally reaches a head starting this week.

Boys and girls soccer regional play begins this week with nine teams attempting to make it to state. Two enter as top seeds and five rank in the upper half of the bracket.

Here is how each team can reach the final four, set for February 20-24 at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale.

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Class 2A-Region 1

Lafayette Girls

The lone girls squad from the class, the Hornets earned a No. 5 seed in Region 1. At 12-5, Lafayette won District 2 6-3 over Trenton. Four of its five losses came to two teams – Taylor County and Williston.

Despite being the lower seed, LHS will host University Christian since the Hornets won their district, and the Christians did not.

UC does enter with a slightly higher state ranking. Problem for the Hornets is a win likely means a matchup with top-seeded St. John’s Country Day, the top ranked team in 2A and fifth in the state.

Oak Hall Boys

Due to a high-flying scoring offense, the Eagles orchestrated a masterful season at 13-0-1. That record makes them the area’s only unbeaten team on the boys or girls side.

The FHSAA rankings don’t reflect Oak Hall’s record, mainly due to a weak strength of schedule. At No. 176, OH ranks 6th in the class, but it is solid enough for No. 1 in Region 1.

The Eagles hope to prove the naysayers wrong beginning with a contest with eighth-seeded Community Christian Tuesday. With a win, they’ll face either Bell or Academy of the Lakes.

St Joseph’s Academy and Christ’s Church are the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the class.

Bell Boys

The Bulldogs still gained an at-large bid despite a 2-0 district final loss to Oak Hall. As a four seed, Bell must travel to Academy of the Lakes Tuesday. A win there sets up a likely rematch with OH in the semifinals.

While the Eagles beat the ‘Dawgs twice, it came by a combined score of just 3-0.

Class 3A-Region 1

PK Yonge Girls

The area’s highest ranked girls squad, the Blue Wave gained the top seed in Region 1 once again after a 5-0 win over Keystone Heights in the district final.

PK opens vs those same Indians Tuesday. A win sets up either Maclay or North Bay Haven on Thursday. Florida High and Episcopal School are the No. 2 and 3 seeds respectively.

The Blue Wave already knocked off the Seminoles 3-0 at home on January 4.

Keystone Heights Girls

Like Bell’s boys, the Indians gained an at-large bid and must kick off over the Blue Wave.

KH needs to buck previous trends as PK beat it twice by a combined score of 13-0.

PK Yonge Boys

The boys Blue Wave finished with an impressive 19-2 record but gained just a No. 5 seed due to a weak strength of schedule.

PK hopes to carry its district magic into regionals. It upended Williston’s chances of back-to-back titles with a 2-0 final win.

It opens at North Bay Haven. A dub likely sends the Blue Wave to top-seeded Maclay, ranked third in 3A.

Class 4A-Region 1

Santa Fe Girls

Sometimes even district champions earn the short end of the stick.

That’s what happened to the Santa Fe girls, which defeated Suwannee in P.K.’s in a hard-fought district final.

Due to a weak S.O.S., the Raiders gained just a seven seed. They’ll travel up to Jacksonville and No. 2 seed Stanton, ranked seventh in the class.

SF faces either No. 3 Bishop Kenny or No. 6 West Florida with a win.

Santa Fe Boys

The Raider boys endure a much easier journey. Ranked 12th in 4A, SF solidified a second seed with a district final win over Suwannee.

It opens postseason play Tuesday in Alachua vs South Walton. A win keeps the Raiders at home vs either third-seeded Stanton or sixth-seeded Yulee.

SF needs to travel only if top-seeded Bay nabs a spot in the regional final.

Class 6A-Region 1

Buchholz Boys

The area’s only “big school” to qualify for the postseason – Buchholz is counting its lucky stars to secure a postseason bid after a stunning PK loss to Forest in the district final.

At No. 39, Buchholz is still, by far, the area’s highest-ranked team and drew a No. 4 seed in Region 1.

While the Forest loss likely didn’t lower the ‘Cats seeding, it does force them to begin the postseason on the road as fifth-seeded Tate won its district.

If Buchholz gets by the Aggies, it likely will travel west to Niceville. The Eagles are ranked third in Florida and first in 6A.

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA postseason begins in soccer this week for nine Gainesville area teams