By Official Florida FC
A five-hour trip across the Florida panhandle can be challenging on the mind and body. To do so in order to play a soccer game in dreary conditions is an additional obstacle.
Santa Rosa Beach South Walton overcame all three in its 4-2 win over Jacksonville Wolfson in a FHSAA Region 1-3A final on Wednesday night in Jacksonville. For the Seahawks, its their second straight trip to the FHSAA semifinals.
“We’ve just instilled confidence in them,” says South Walton head coach Kevin Weaver. “I’ve done everything to make them feel like a legitimate team. We played an incredible schedule last year and lost a lot of close games. This year, we won, or tied a lot of those games we lost (last season.)”
The Seahawks (17-3-5) conceded in the first 10 minutes, but attacked in flocks during the remaining half hour of the first half.
Wolfson sophomore goalkeeper Leonardo Bustamante made a superb diving stop with his left hand in the 20th minute to keep the Wolfpack ahead.
But, South Walton kept flying forward.
Brooks Lukow scored in the 28th minute on a shot that snuck into the far corner to the surprise of both squads. Brody Hanson gave the Seahawks the lead 91 seconds later. Hanson’s shot at the near-post took a deflection and went over Bustamante.
Wolfson desperately needed and wanted to get to halftime trailing by just one goal. Instead, Michael Codner scored his eighth goal of the season with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Their halftime advantage stood up. Wolfson applied pressure during the first five minutes of the second half. Those efforts were rewarded when Raphael Eccher scored his second goal of the game in the 43rd minute.
“(Eccher) was one of the best players we have played all year,” Weaver added.
Wolfson, spurred on by a student section that wanted to see the Wolfpack advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2006, pushed forward. However, the Wolfpack continued to concede set pieces in their own defensive third.
That came back to haunt the hosts.
Bustamante parried Jose Colon’s blistering, goal-bound, shot away in the 55th minute for a South Walton corner kick – the Seahawks fourth set piece in the Wolfson defensive third of the second half.
On the ensuing corner, Martin Fajardo did what he has all season long. He scored.
Fajardo’s 24th goal in 24 games this season won South Walton its second consecutive regional championship.
“They keep showing up,” said Weaver, who has helped South Walton advance to the regional finals in four out of the last five years. “I try to stay out of their way.”
For Wolfson, the ride ends one game away from the state tournament, and a chance to become the first Duval County public school to win a boys soccer title. The Wolfpack (19-4-2) are a team that surprised a lot of teams this season and have a handful of attackers who are underclassmen.
