Buchholz girls soccer beats Tallahassee Lincoln to win district title

Earlier in the season, Buchholz head coach Bryan Hantak was confident that he had the team needed to put Buchholz girls’ soccer back on the map.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Hantak said. “The group we have is fantastic. It truly is… great group of seniors, leadership, the work ethic. We’ve got players coming off the bench that could start for any team and they get on the field and they do everything that we ask them to do.”

And with a 3-2 win over Tallahassee Lincoln (12-5-2) on Tuesday night at Saint Francis Catholic High School, the Bobcats (14-3-2) claimed the 2-6A district title, putting the program back on the map and bring home their first district championship trophy since 2018.

Hantak will be the first to admit that Lincoln outplayed Buchholz in the opening half and the Bobcats were fortunate to escape the opening period without giving up a goal to the Trojans.

“We got lucky in the first half quite a bit,” Hantak said. “I gotta be honest, I think Lincoln outplayed us in the first half…they hit the crossbar a few times with some fantastic shots. They were creating a lot of opportunities.”

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After a scoreless first half from both teams, Lincoln was first to strike in the second period — and it did so quickly.

After just a minute of play clock had expired, Lincoln sophomore Ava Jones dished a pass to senior Meredith Camron, who slipped a shot past Buchholz’s sophomore goalkeeper MiMi Fisher.

However, the Bobcats’ one-goal deficit didn’t last long as sophomore Zoe Torres capitalized on a penalty kick, tying the match at 1-1 with 31 minutes to play.

Just four minutes later, the Trojans committed another costly penalty, allowing Buchholz junior Kelisha Andre to send a penalty kick to the back of the net, helping the Bobcats to a 2-1 lead with 27 minutes left.

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“It’s a tough position,” Hantak said of lining up for penalty kicks. “Starting two weeks ago, the last 15 minutes of every practice is PKs … just in case. So I think they were ready. They both stroked it just like we wanted them to.”

An insurance goal for the Bobcats would come at the 13-minute mark after senior Delaney Martin took the ball down the left sideline before dishing it to Torres, who sent it past Lincoln’s senior keeper, Lily Dennis.

Torres’ insurance score would pay off for the Bobcats as Lincoln freshman Tirzah Holly would catch Fisher out of the goal, and send in a final goal in extra minutes to make the game 3-2 in Buchholz’s favor.

Looking ahead

While Buchholz will have to wait to learn who it will face in the regional tournament, after winning their district, the Bobcats will host the next round of playoffs on Feb. 8.

Buchholz girls soccer beats Tallahassee Lincoln to win district title

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