Last week, the Springstead Eagles (18-3-1) outlasted the Forest Wildcats (15-5-1) by a 3-2 margin at the Eagles’ Nest to become district champions. On Wednesday, they defeated Forest High in the 6A District 4 final to advance to the regional quarterfinals. The championship tilt saw the Red, White, and Blue jump out to a 2-0 lead at halftime before hanging on late against the scrappy Wildcats. While Springstead enjoyed home-field advantage during the district circuit, that will not be the case for the state tournament.
Head Coach Sarah Bell’s squad will travel to take on the two-seed Niceville Eagles (14-2-4) in the Girls Soccer State Championship—Class 6A Tournament on February 13. The Spring Hill-based Eagles bring Senior FORW Ava Kanaar and her county-leading goals scored (67, 3.2 per game) to face off against Niceville’s versatile Senior STRK Sophia Edwards, who leads her team in goals (17, 0.9 per game), assists (12, 0.6 per game), and shots (16, 0.8 per game). The seventh-seeded Eagles will take on their higher-seeded doppelganger at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.