On Tuesday night, the Springstead Eagles (13-3-1) emerged victorious in a 4-0 shutout of the Gainesville Hurricanes (3-8-3) in the 2025 Boys Soccer 5A District 5 Tournament. Eagles Head Coach Dominic Coco and company were able to exact revenge in their home semifinal victory.
“This is what we wanted,” Coach Coco said. “This is what we have been working for since day one. This is a little bit of revenge against Gainesville who beat us 3-0 two years ago in the semifinal. So, it was really good to get the win back and head to the district final.”
It would take nearly 14 minutes into the district contest for the Red, White, and Blue to start making good on their revenge. Then, off a free kick from Junior Douglas Kelly, Sophomore Jack Ryan headed the ball into the right side of the goal.
A low-scoring affair for much of the game, the home team only managed to take a slim 1-0 advantage heading into halftime. This was thanks to a heavily defensive game plan coming in by Gainesville, but Coach Coco and his staff were ready for it.
“We watched them on film all week long and we just, to our gameplan, did what they did. So, how we can counter it. They sat in. We saw that and we knew how to attack it.”
Following the intermission, Springstead began to find their rhythm almost immediately. Less than 30 seconds into the second half, Sophomore Jackson Caravello passed the ball to a sprinting Freshman Tyler Siebe. On the fast break, Siebe found himself one-on-one with Gainesville’s goaltender before rocketing it past him for the game’s second score.
Throughout the match, the Hurricanes were not presented with many legitimate opportunities to put the ball in the net, but one came just seconds after the Eagles goal. The close shot on goal was saved by the goalkeeper, and one of the Hurricanes’ best scoring chances was quickly snuffed out.
Over 20 minutes later, Gies would ice the game with a goal when he kicked the ball from the right side of the field to the left end of the net after salvaging a teammate’s thwarted scoring attempt. On top of that, it was the senior’s birthday on Tuesday. A score, a victory, and a district final appearance secured – not a bad present for the athlete.
“It is an honor to be three-time champions,” said Coach Coco. “It shows that we are the best team in the county but, for us, we want more. We want a district championship.”
At this late point in the season, the Eagles’ ball coach added that he does not think that they will change much heading into their upcoming postseason matchups against one-seed Leesburg and beyond.
Despite this, the staff studied the Yellow Jackets’ 7-6 victory over Lecanto and will be game planning for their Thursday night district championship. “For us to watch the two teams and see who we are going to play and watch their tendencies and be ready to go for Thursday,” Coach Coco said.
