A soggy field and several rain delays couldn’t stop Mitchell in the first round of the playoffs.
The Mustang boys overcame host Lake Region in a 3-0 shutout Friday in the Class 4A region quarterfinals.
“We created chances,” coach Oscar Ubillus said. “We kept possession of the ball.”
Ubillus said the Mustangs haven’t played well in the first half of their past few games, though they improved in the last few minutes of this one. They ended the half up 1-0.
Lake Region never had a chance to catch up in the second.
“They never got close to the net,” Ubillus said. “We played the game we wanted to.”
Brady Friedman, Nick Bartkus and Mico Petrovich scored for the Mustangs.
Wiregrass Ranch will host Mitchell in the next round of the 4A tournament. The Bulls defeated Lakeland Kathleen 5-2 on Thursday night.
Girls
Land O’Lakes saw its season end with a hard-fought 1-0 loss to host Palm Coast Matanzas on Friday in the Class 3A region finals.
Matanzas advances to the state semis for the first time in school history.
The Gators (25-2) shut down 68-goal scorer Miracle Porter, and led by Lacy Nasello and Maci Galan limited the chances of a team that had outscored its first two playoff opponents 15-0.
“Everybody played well,” said Gators coach Vicky King. “Wet conditions, good team, good home crowd, we overcame all that. It’s just tough to lose.”
Matanzas (24-2-2) got the winning goal from freshman Claire Slamka with 17 minutes remaining. The Gators had a couple of near goals on free kicks and pressured the Matanzas net in a harried final two minutes but came up empty.
It started raining right before the game, which led to a slippery field with several puddles. The Gators had to play into a decent wind the second half. And Matanzas was a quality opponent.
“The game was fast, and much more physical than we’re used to. And we played well,” King said.
Shots ended up even at 12 apiece.
The Pirates, who had never won a playoff game before this season, will play Merritt Island in next week’s Class 3A state semis in Melbourne.
Darek Sharp, Times correspondent