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By Amanda Roman and Cati Stoehr
The Oak Hall boys soccer team entered the FHSAA Class 2A state tournament Tuesday with a 13-0-1 record and the top seed in its region. But eight seed Community Christian out of Tallahassee was not in awe while pulling out a 1-0 upset in the region quarterfinal at Oak Hall.
Community Christian (8-5-1) advances to play four seed Bell (11-4) at 7 p.m. Friday in the region semifinal. Bell is coming off a 2-1 win over visiting five seed Land O’ Lakes Academy at the Lakes in its quarterfinal Tuesday.
First Half: Falling Short
The first half had instances where opportunities were missed and 50-50 balls were not being pursued.
While senior striker Thomas Cummings had some good momentum, none of his attacks at goal were successful. By the end of the first half, the Eagles had only two shots on goal.
Defensively, the Chargers had the Eagles locked down, and, according to coach Andy Westfall, “[their] inability to possess and move the ball around … [prevented them] from creating opportunities to shoot on goal.”
“But that’s what happens when you’re playing a good team, they make the simple things that you should be able to accomplish seem really difficult and challenging,” said Westfall.
The Chargers had multiple shots on goal due to a scattered Eagles defense, but keeper Kingston Mosley made four saves, ending the first half at of 0-0.
“He stepped up and made some massive plays,” Westfall said when describing how Kingston filled in for Chase Angerhofer-Robinson, who was out with an ankle injury.
The Eagles continue to try and score a goal, but the Chargers are putting up a fight
Score is currently 0-0
Thomas Gibson # 8 is continuing to show great effort and is keeping the energy up#OakHallHighSchool #CommunityChristianHigh #BoysSoccer #Regionals #ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/mQnS3Kg559
— Marthina (@marthinam22) February 6, 2024
A Slow Second Half
The Chargers jumped at the goal the second the kickoff started to open the second half. The Eagles weren’t ready, and the Chargers already had an opportunity at the goal with a cornerkick at minute 39.
Marcello El-Semerani headed the ball out to prevent any more offensive play from the Chargers.
Meanwhile, the Eagles started to pick up with Yuyu Ynigo doing an amazing job moving up the left wing. Westfall said their strategy in the half was to “maintain high press and keep possession,” and, while the Eagles did have more shots on goal, none found the back of the net.
Playing Until The End
Mosley had an amazing game, saving multiple close shots at the goal. However, with the Eagles’ vulnerable defense, the Chargers were able to get past Mosley at 13:25 with a through ball that went straight to a wide-open player.
This goal was eye-opening for the Eagles, and in efforts to try to win back the game, they began to pick up their pace. They made more attempts at the goal, but could have executed better.
“We never really got our rhythm going in this game,” Westfall said. “It was definitely an off night for us.”
Cooper Coleman at 7:18 made an attempt to tie the game with a shot on goal, but it didn’t quite reach the back of the net.
The efforts made at the closing minutes of the match were commendable and showed the Eagles’ talents which had not come out in the previous minutes of the game.
The Community Christian Chargers are now up 1-0 against the Oak Hall Eagles. #OakHallHighSchool #CommunityChristianHighSchool#BoysSoccer #RegionalQuarterfinals#ESPNGainesville #Regionals #2A pic.twitter.com/w4mfEDzjuV
— Marthina (@marthinam22) February 7, 2024
Proud Eagles
“They were the better side tonight in terms of how they linked up and played ball, [so] if [we’re] going to lose to somebody, I’d rather lose because the opposing team is doing everything right and playing good soccer,” Westfall said.
