Winter high school soccer is a smaller occasion with just seven states involved, but they’re doozies. With talent-rich states like Florida and California involved, the inevitable state tournament matchups provide some mouthwatering finishes.
While California, Louisiana and Texas are still slogging through the postseason and district play, Hawaii, Arizona, Mississippi and Florida are officially done with boys and girls soccer for the 2013-2014 season. Here’s a look at five of the most impressive state title runs from the winter season. From the improbable to the preordained, here’s a look at some of the team highlights from the season so far.
Melbourne (Fla.) boys (24-1-0) and girls (23-0-0): It’s rare enough that state title sweeps happen, but for it to coincide with one program on the rise and another outright dynasty seems fortuitous. And for it to come down in Florida, where the soccer is always fierce? All the more impressive.
For the girls program, this season always had an air of expectancy about it. They’d won three titles in five years after last season’s state triumph, and tacking on a fourth in six seemed more than possible with the talent returning. After scything through their first two playoff opponents 10-0, it took penalty kicks to navigate past Mitchell in the regional finals. A 3-0 win over Lakewood Ranch pitted the Bulldogs against Fleming Island, which they defeated by netting the winner via Keira McCarthy for their second straight state title.
