Area girls soccer district tourneys on horizon

Three county schools would appear to have a solid shot at moving on to regionals and two are hosting girls district soccer tournaments that begin next week.

Bozeman and Bay will compete in the District 1-2A tournament that the Tornadoes will host beginning Monday at Tommy Oliver Stadium. Rutherford and host Arnold are in the 2-3A event that begins on Tuesday and Mosley travels to the 2-4A tourney hosted by Tallahassee Chiles starting Monday.

Bay and Mosley each have first-round byes determined by regular-season district standings.

For the Tornadoes, 12-6-1, the draw represents the dual challenge of playing the role of favorite in the semifinals in hopes of being the underdog in the championship game. Bay is seeded second, having been shut out 3-0 and 4-0 by top-seeded Pensacola Catholic, whom Bay coach Blythe Carpenter concedes is the clear-cut team to beat.

“Absolutely. I think we have improved since we played them, maybe not significantly but we have improved,” Carpenter said. The Tornadoes have a bye, then play the winner of Walton and South Walton on Wednesday. Bozeman faces Marianna on Monday in another first-round game.

“Walton has not won a district game, and we understand how hard we’ve struggled in games against (South Walton),” Carpenter said. “We very well could be sitting in the stands Friday night if we don’t take care of business on Wednesday night.

“We prefer to play that underdog status with all of the pressure off. That’s what we’re trying to prepare our team for.”

Arnold, 10-4-2, hosts Milton 5 p.m. Tuesday in one semifinal with rebuilding Rutherford facing top-seeded Choctawhatchee in the other. The Marlins are in the same position as Bay in one sense.

“Milton scares me a little,” Arnold coach James Gardner said. “We have beaten them twice, but if they play well and we are overconfident they can beat us. We will have to give our best.

“We are 1-1 with (Choctawhatchee) this season. They are probably the favorite, but if we play well we can take them. We will have to get past Milton first.”

Mosley, 13-4, appears to have rebounded since a string of losses against powerful teams during the holiday break. The Dolphins opened with nine consecutive wins, then lost four straight and currently are on another four-game win streak.

They earned the top seed in 2-4A and await the winner of Monday’s Leon-Columbia play-in game at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Chiles and Lincoln compete in the other semifinal.

The top two district finishers move on to the regional, the champion hosting the first round and the runner-up traveling to play a nearby district champion.

Girls district soccer (all times CST)

District 1-1A at Franklin County

• Tuesday: Port St. Joe vs. Franklin County 6 p.m.
• Friday: Rocky Bayou vs. winner Game 1 6 p.m.

District 1-2A at Bay

• Monday: Walton vs. South Walton 5 p.m., Bozeman vs. Marianna 7 p.m.
• Wednesday: Pensacola Catholic vs. Bozeman-Marianna winner 5 p.m., Bay vs. Walton-South Walton winner 7 p.m.
• Friday: Championship 7 p.m.

District 2-3A at Arnold

• Tuesday: Milton vs. Arnold 5 p.m., Choctawhatchee vs. Rutherford 7 p.m.
• Friday: Championship 7 p.m.

District 2-4A at Chiles

• Monday: Columbia vs. Leon 6 p.m.
• Tuesday: Lincoln vs. Chiles 4 p.m., Mosley vs. Columbia-Leon winner 6 p.m.
• Thursday: Championship game 6 p.m.