District 2-3A: Arnold rebounds for win, title over Choctaw

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Arnold got its wake-up call, and the Marlins didn’t take kindly to it.

Trailing 3-1 just 30 seconds into the second half, Arnold rallied with three straight goals to stun Choctawhatchee 4-3 in the girls’ District 2-3A soccer tournament title game Friday night at the Mike Gavlak Sports Complex.

Arnold (12-4-3) will host Pensacola High early next week in the Region 1-3A quarterfinals. The game currently is scheduled for Tuesday, but Arnold also is supposed to host a pair of boys District 3-2A games that night at Gavlak. Athletic director Julie Hale said she will have to determine who plays whom on what day.

Choctaw fell to 15-5-2 overall and will travel to West Florida, which defeated Pensacola 1-0 on Friday night.

Choctaw’s Marissa Heiges scored just 30 seconds after halftime to give the Indians a 3-1 lead. Megan Thomas, who scored twice, was nearly indefensible all night and constantly harassed Arnold goalie Autumn Jaworski.

It was a pair of stellar saves by Jaworski — along with a pair of ill-timed hand balls by Choctaw defenders — that enabled the Marlins to rally. Jaworski turned away a pair of Choctaw breakaways with sliding saves in 1-on-1 matchups, including a stop that prevented Thomas from scoring a fourth goal.

“They have a lot of speed up front, and they’re tough and get a lot of breakaways,” Jaworski said. “The first time they make a bad touch, you have to come out and steal it from them.”

Trailing by two goals, Arnold’s offense went on the attack. The Marlins were awarded a penalty kick in the fifth minute of the second half when a Choctaw player was whistled for a hand ball inside the penalty box. Kirsten Crowley scored to pull Arnold within 3-2.

“When we get down, we get fired up,” said Arnold’s Sarah Nohmer, who scored twice. “We needed them to score so we could come back and play on edge.”

Just three minutes later, the Indians again were whistled for a hand ball in the 18-yard box. And again it was Crowley delivering a goal, this one knotting the score at 3-3.

In the game’s 69th minute, Kelli Crowley offered a perfect pass ahead to Nohmer, who was streaking through the middle of Choctaw’s defense. Nohmer tracked down the ball and used her right foot to post the go-ahead goal with 11 minutes remaining in the game.

“Kelli passed me the perfect ball,” Nohmer said. “I think she has the most assists on the team. I had one defender to beat and then it was just me and the goalie.”

Thomas gave Choctaw a 1-0 lead in the game’s 11th minute with a blistered shot off her left foot. That lead held up for only three minutes, though, as Nohmer turned a Chelsea Wiser pass into the Marlins’ first goal and a 1-1 tie.

Thomas scored her second goal on a penalty kick she tucked neatly inside the right post in the 22nd minute of the first half. That gave the Indians a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Choctaw coach Jeff Rynearson said he expects his girls to rebound in time for their showdown with West Florida, a team the Indians defeated 2-1 in Choctaw’s first game of the year.

“That was our message to the girls,” Rynearson said of his team remaining alive in the postseason. “Let it sink in and remember how it feels to lose because we don’t want to feel this again.”