District 2-3A boys: Arnold advances, Rutherford ousted

PANAMA CITY BEACH — It can be argued that Arnold didn’t resemble a team that had won only five games in 20 matches this season.

The flip side was that Choctawhatchee didn’t look much look the squad that had won 17 times in the same number of games.

But those schools will meet to decide the District 2-3A boys soccer title after posting semifinal wins Wednesday night at Mike Gavlak Sports Complex. Arnold eliminated Milton 4-2 and Choctaw, state runner-up last year while competing in Class 4A, survived a major upset bid by Rutherford 1-0.

Arnold 4, Milton 2

The Marlins improved to just 6-11-4 overall as Quinn Schoppe scored twice and Thomas McDaniel had a goal and two assists. Arnold wasn’t seriously challenged after dominating early scoring chances and building a two-goal lead in the opening 13 minutes.

The Marlins also notched the first two goals of the second half while winning the rubber match this season with the Panthers, who finished 7-11-2. It was almost as if they flipped a switch to energize for the postseason.

“We’ve started to pull together right now, it’s the end of the year and our seniors know this could be one of the last games now,” McDaniel said. “It’s more in the heart. This is the time.”

McDaniel assisted Schoppe’s first goal on the Marlins’ initial shot. He then took a perfect pass from Austin Masker and displayed a deft touch while nudging the ball past Milton keeper Quinton Dobbs.

With Cameron and Austin Peffers initiating the attack, McDaniel and Masker often generated the offense. The Marlins dominated until the water break in each half with a crisp passing game.

Tim Dempsey pulled the Panthers within 2-1 when he volleyed Avery McNeal’s long free kick from near midfield. Arnold keeper Josh Murphy barely got his hands up in time and the shot slipped through in the 29th minute.

Schoppe scored his second goal on a rebound after McDaniel made a strong run and got off a solid shot in the 50th minute. Dobbs made an excellent save, but the ball bounced directly to Schoppe and he scored easily.

McDaniel could have easily had a hat trick as he also got behind the defense and eluded Dobbs, but a Milton defender slid across to keep his shot from close range out of the net.

Masker made it 4-1 in the 74th minute after a long run got him free at the top of the box. A minute later Milton’s Eric Abenojar ended the scoring with a 15-yarder that curled into the upper right corner.

Choctawhatchee handled Arnold in both regular-season meetings. The Marlins get a third chance 7 p.m. Friday at Gavlak.

“They killed us the first time, and the second time we let up and it was like 5-0,” McDaniel said.

• Milton 1 1 — 2
• Arnold 2 2 — 4
• Scoring — First half: 1. Arnold, Quinn Schoppe (Thomas McDaniel), 4th minute, 2. Arnold, McDaniel (Austin Masker), 13th minute, 3. Milton, Tim Dempsey (Avery McNeal), 29th minute. Second half: 4. Arnold, Schoppe (McDaniel), 50th minute, 5. Arnold, Masker, 74th minute, 6. Milton, Eric Abenojar, 75th minute. Shots: Milton 5-4-9, Arnold 9-15-24. Shots on goal: Milton 3-1-4, Arnold 3-3-6. Corner kicks: Milton 0-0-0, Arnold 1-2-3. Saves: Milton 1-1-2 (Quinton Dobbs), Arnold 2-0-2 (Josh Murphy). Yellow cards: Milton (Kai Greene 2, Carby Lohr).

Choctawhatchee 1, Rutherford 0

To be sure, Choctawhatchee dominated possession and owned a great disparity in scoring chances.

The bottom line, however, was that the Rams, who finished 3-11-3, were just one fortunate bounce or foul called inside the penalty box from forcing overtime.

The Indians, 18-3-0, who lost only two players from the outstanding squad of 2011, weren’t about to let that happen. Aside from a hard shot from 15 yards by Tyler Le in the 47th minute, the Rams had very few meaningful possessions after halftime.

If not for an acrobatic save by Choctawhatchee keeper Adam Cahill the Rams could have taken the early lead. Eric Riley steamed down the right side and let go a rocket from 20 yards that Cahill went airborne to corral in the 9th minute. Riley had narrowly missed wide to the far post minutes earlier and Le had a strong volley from the top of the box.

Those efforts all came in the opening 10 minutes, and when the Indians clamped down on Riley from that point Rutherford’s offense was severely limited.

Still the Rams forged on and survived a barrage of 38 shots by Choctawhatchee. Considering that Rutherford regular keeper Andrew Mask had to play on the back line of defense because of a broken bone in his right wrist, and replacement Gabe Conway not only was coming off a knee injury but only had started three games in net it was a notable effort.

Conway was sturdy between the posts, but the lone goal ironically was a shot he normally would stop. Dominick Jordan kept his shot along the ground but directly at Conway in the 16th minute. It squirted through for the lone tally of the game.

Conway made a sliding stop on a free kick by Mikey Lightborne early in the second half and Rutherford caught a break when Lightborne used a spin move in the box to gain separation and fed Shane Nicholson with the Rams’ defense out of position.

Nicholson’s shot glanced off the goal post, which summed up the Indians’ frustration the final 40 minutes. They launched 24 shots, nine of them on net, but couldn’t produce an insurance goal.

• Choctawhatchee 1 0 — 1
• Rutherford 0 0 — 0
• Scoring — First half: 1. Choctawhatchee, Dominick Jordan, 16th minute. Shots: Choctawhatchee 14-24-38, Rutherford 11-4-15. Shots on goal: Choctawhatchee 6-9-15, Rutherford 5-2-7. Corner kicks: Choctawhatchee 3-5-8, Rutherford 1-0-1. Saves: Choctawhatchee 5-2-7 (Adam Cahill), Rutherford 5-9-14 (Gabe Conway, Jake Palmer).