FWB, Niceville advance to 1-5A boys soccer final

By RANDY DICKSON

randyd@nwfdailynews.com

NICEVILLE — Fort Walton Beach and Choctawhatchee renewed their longstanding rivalry in the District 1-5A boys soccer tournament semifinals at Twin Oaks Park on Wednesday.

Ricky Quirao scored a late goal as the Vikings edged the Indians 2-1. Top-seeded Niceville beat Tate 4-1 in the other semifinal.

The Vikings and Eagles will meet for the district championship at 7 p.m. Friday.

“It was a typical Fort Walton Beach-Choctaw game,” Indian coach Chris McDaniel said. “Both teams battled and there’s not much more to say on that.

“We left everything on the field. I would have been upset if we didn’t.”

It was the No. 2 seed Vikings (18-8) that delivered the first big punch of the match.

At the 35-minute mark, Ricky Bennington scored on an assist from Sean Reynolds for the only goal of the first half.

With a smothering Viking defense led by Reynolds, A.J. Newberry and Aaron Miles, the Indians only had three shots on goal in the first half and it seemed as if their offense might never get untracked.

But that changed when Choctaw (12-6) made some adjustments at the half.

At 48 minutes, Ricky Hoegg scored on an assist from Yoel Cordona to tie things up.

Sam Irwin, Bruce Boyette and Nick Steinke helped the Indians shut down the Vikings through most of the second half before Quirao scored the game-winner around the 75th minute.

Choctaw continued to press the attack, but the Viking defense held off the Indian charge to ensure the win.

“Choctaw did a great job,” Viking coach Zac Keeler said. “They brought the same plays as they always do. We studied their plays and tried to attack from the outside. We worked on the shots this week and it worked out for us.”

In the other semifinal, the Eagles had little trouble with the Aggies.

Not that Niceville (22-3-2) needed any help, but Tate gave the Eagles an early lead when the Aggies scored an own goal just three minutes in the game.

Ten minutes later, Austin Van Decar scored on an assist from Colin Berrigan and Niceville had all the goals it would need for the win.

But the Eagles weren’t finished. Robert Russell scored on an assist from Jake Pratt in the 37th minute to give Niceville a 3-0 lead at the intermission.

If Eagle goalie Ryan Riggs felt like the loneliest man in town, he had good reason to. Niceville’s defense didn’t allow Tate a single shot on goal in the first half.

In fact, the only Aggie score came on a free kick at 51 minutes.

Other than that, Riggs spent his time chasing the occasional wide shot.

Berrigan closed out the scoring in the 62nd minute when he put a header in off a direct kick by Pratt.

“I felt like the guys played hard,” Eagles coach Wes Nelson said. “Tate gave us a good game because they knew if they lost it was the last game of the year.

“I thought we responded pretty well. I’m happy with the way we played. I think we are ready for the district championship.”