Girls soccer district of death
Four playoff teams vie for two postseason spots
By Kyle LoJacono
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) creates new district alignments every two years, and it made quite a doozy when it created Class 4A-District 8.
The alignment includes four playoff teams from last season, including the defending 4A state champion Steinbrenner. It also has regional finalists Gaither and Wiregrass Ranch, as well as Freedom, which has won back-to-back district titles.
All four plan on returning to the postseason this season, but only the district champion and runner-up will be in the playoffs.
Wiregrass Ranch, the only Pasco County squad in the district, has yet to play any of the other playoff teams from 4A-8, but the three Hillsborough County schools have played each other at least twice since Steinbrenner opened two seasons ago.
The Warriors tied Gaither and Freedom in all four of their matchups. The Patriots have gotten the better of the Cowboys the last two years with a 3-0-1 record.
Other teams in 4A-8 include Sickles and Chamberlain. The district tournament is at Freedom on Jan. 16-20.
Steinbrenner Warriors
The Warriors won a state title in the program’s second season last year, quicker than any other soccer team in Florida history.
“It’s definitely the best thing that has happened to me ever,” said senior forward Cici Gonzalez. “It was like a dream.”
Gonzalez said the team is prepared to take everyone’s best shot this year.
“We won, so we know everyone is going to be coming for us,” Gonzalez said. “We have to backup our title. I think we’re just as good as last year.”
Steinbrenner had little trouble in its old district the last two seasons, winning all 17 games by a combined score of 141-1.
“The most remarkable thing about Steinbrenner winning last year was looking at the games, because so often if you have an easy district the team can become unfocused,” said first-year Warriors coach Robert Woodard. “You can tell kids to stay sharp in the games, but when they know what the outcome is going to be it’s tough to work as hard.”
Gonzalez looks forward to games that don’t end by mercy rule.
“I think it’s going to help us,” Gonzalez said. “Now we won’t have those 8-0 games when people said we weren’t playing anyone. Now we’re playing good competition in our district.”
Freedom Patriots
Freedom won back-to-back district titles the last two years and the Patriots know it won’t be easy making it three in a row.
“It’s going to be tough,” said senior defender Suzanna Crochet. “Each night we’ll get better and learn from the mistakes we make. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, but we’re excited for it.”
Senior midfielder Alyssa Daniello is also eager because the district makes some of the squad’s rivalry games even more meaningful.
“We’ve tied Steinbrenner the two times we’ve played, so we know we can play with them,” Daniello said. “Gaither we’ve always had a little rivalry with. We beat them for the district title last year. Playing Wiregrass is exciting because we’ve never played them before.”
Freedom second-year coach Jenna Ball played on the Tampa Bay Tech soccer team while in high school. Having such a tough district makes her thrilled about the future of the sport.
“It shows how far girls soccer has come,” Ball said. “When I was in high school there were just a few club players on a team and just a few competitive teams. Now there are so many competitive teams. It shows girls soccer is moving up and the area is becoming one of the top in the nation for the sport.”
Wiregrass Ranch Bulls
Wiregrass Ranch is the big question mark in 4A-8 in more ways than one.
“These are all teams that we don’t know, and I don’t think we’ve played any of them before, but that also means they haven’t seen us either,” said second-year Bulls coach Erin Dodd. “That unknown is exciting.”
Wiregrass Ranch’s schedule is also very different from its district rivals to the south. The Wesley Chapel-based school will play a full slate of games within the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC), which includes the 13 public schools in Pasco.
Dodd said there is still very good competition in Pasco, which had five playoff teams last season. She said the squad’s SAC and district schedule, along with a few tournaments, should make the Bulls ready for a postseason run.
“One of the great things is you get better playing against teams that are of a high quality,” Dodd said. “All of these teams are high-quality teams. Every district game we’re playing a defending state champ, a region finalist, a playoff team from last year. It raises the level of play we have to come into every district game with.”
Gaither Cowboys
Gaither third-year coach Trevor Scott admits the Cowboys are usually identified with boys soccer instead of girls, what with the 4A state championship title from 2000 in the school’s trophy case.
His squad’s playoff appearance last season was the program’s first in five years, but Scott said the current group can create a legacy at Gaither.
“I’m not going to say in 30 years we’re going to be the first place people think of for girls soccer, but with these players we can be very good,” Scott said. “The girls are talented and hungry to win.”
Scott said that drive to put up ‘Ws’ in a tougher district will prepare the Cowboys for another postseason.
“I think we lacked playing really tough games every night last year,” Scott said. “We only played Steinbrenner once and Freedom once in the regular season. Those were our really tough games. We weren’t ready for that kind of competition. Get through this district and we’ll be ready.”
Senior midfielder Kaycee McGuire said there is another reason she wants to beat their closest rivals.
“A lot of the girls know players on those other teams, so that also puts a fire under us to win,” McGuire said. “You want to work harder and beat them so they can’t talk trash about you.”
Area Class 4A-District 8 teams
Freedom* 11-2-3, 5A region quarterfinalist
Gaither 12-6-2, 5A region finalist
Steinbrenner* 21-2-2, 4A state champs
Wiregrass Ranch* 23-3-2, 4A region finalist
*Won a district title
Area 4A-8 head-to-head games this year
–Steinbrenner at Freedom Nov. 17, 8 p.m.
–Steinbrenner at Wiregrass Ranch Nov. 29, 8 p.m.
–Steinbrenner at Gaither Dec. 6, 6 p.m.
–Freedom at Wiregrass Ranch Dec. 6, 8 p.m.
–Wiregrass Ranch at Gaither Dec. 13, 6 p.m.
–Freedom at Gaither Jan. 4, 6 p.m.
Freedom hosts the district tournament, which will be played Jan. 16-20.
Area 4A-8 teams past matchups
–Gaither ties Steinbrenner 1-1 Nov. 3, 2009
–Steinbrenner ties Freedom 0-0 Dec. 11, 2009
–Gaither loss Freedom 3-1 Jan. 8, 2010
–Freedom def. Gaither 3-0 Jan. 20, 2010
–Gaither ties Freedom 1-1 Nov. 10, 2010
–Steinbrenner ties Gaither 0-0 Dec. 9, 2010
–Steinbrenner ties Freedom 0-0 Jan. 14, 2011
–Freedom def. Gaither 1-0 Jan. 21, 2011
