Soccer: Bay boys rally past Mosley

PANAMA CITY — The result proved to be a polar opposite, but the Bay and Mosley boys soccer teams both walked away from their game Thursday night optimistic about the postseason quickly drawing near.

Bay trailed by a goal at halftime, but the Tornadoes posted three goals in a 10-minute window of the second half to rally for a 3-2 victory over Mosley in a non-district win at Tommy Oliver Stadium.

With its District 1-2A tournament set to start on Monday, Bay improved to 14-6-2 overall. Mosley, which begins postseason play Monday in the District 2-4A tournament, dropped to 10-7-1.

“We’re ready to roll,” Bay coach Ron Houpt said of the playoffs. “We’ve lost one game in the last 2½ years in January. That’s when you’ve got to be ready.”

If Bay’s caliber of play in the first half against the Dolphins could be described as disjointed, the Tornadoes’ play in the second half could be depicted as opportunistic. Bay scored three goals in a flurry, each one after a Mosley breakdown defensively.

Bay’s Ashton Hicks scored his 25th goal of the season less than three minutes into the second half to tie the game at 1-1. Mosley was whistled for an infraction just outside the 18-yard box, and Hicks didn’t wait around for his teammates and Mosley’s defense to hunker down in preparation for the free kick. Instead, Hicks quickly reset the ball and floated a shot over the defense and beyond the reach of Dolphins goalkeeper Nathan Gutcher.

Jarod Wilkins scored the first of his two goals four minutes later for a 2-1 lead for the Tornadoes. Mosley’s defense fell asleep as a Bay throw-in reached the middle of the field in front of the Dolphins’ goal, and Wilkins nudged his shot past a helpless Gutcher for a 2-1 lead.

Wilkins capitalized in the game’s 53rd minute when he was first to reach a loose ball rolling through Mosley’s goal box and toe-punched it past Gunther for an insurmountable two-goal advantage. It was Wilkins’ 21st goal of the season.

“Defensively we try to keep Wilkins in the back, but he’s such a good offensive player,” Houpt said.

Mosley coach Dave Skakal credited the Tornadoes for taking advantage of the opportunities presented, but he also expressed his disappointment that Mosley had opened up each of those chances with its own miscues.

“They caught us asleep on that free kick when they put that one in,” Skakal said.

Mosley sandwiched Bay’s three goals with a pair of sensational shots from long distance. Justin Reed hammered a shot from 35 yards out that sailed over the outstretched fingertips of Bay goalie Gunner Thrasher, but cleared just below the crossbar for a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.

The Dolphins closed within a goal at 3-2 when Mark Grant scorched a shot mere inches off the ground through a forest of legs in front of Bay’s net. The shot covered more than 20 yards, and Thrasher could do little but watch it sail past him.

“We’re playing pretty well,” Skakal said. “I really liked the way we played in the first half and in the second half after we got things under control.”