District 2-3A: Kirsten Crowley leads Arnold to victory

PANAMA CITY BEACH — If Chelsey Williams’ career scoring record was going to fall Tuesday night, it was best that one of her closest friends was the soccer player to break it.

Arnold senior Kirsten Crowley scored her 113th and 114th goals of her career, tying and surpassing Williams’ old mark in the process as the Marlins posted a 4-0 win over Milton in the District 2-3A tournament semifinals.

Wynter Davis scored 144 goals for Mosley between 1999-2002 to hold the all-time county scoring mark before Macie and Chelsey Williams shined for the Dolphins in recent years.

Arnold’s victory at the Mike Gavlak Sports Complex propelled the second-seeded Marlins into Friday’s district championship game against No. 1 seed Choctawhatchee, which defeated Rutherford 8-0 in the other district semifinal at Arnold. Friday’s district championship is set for 7 p.m. on Arnold’s home field.

Crowley has followed admirably in the footsteps of her older sister, Corinne, a talented player who joined Williams at Troy University. They played together at Arnold for three years before Corinne graduated last year, and their youngest sister Kelli is a freshman starting on the Marlins’ varsity squad.

Kirsten and Corinne Crowley had several years’ worth of memories playing together on the soccer field, but it was Kelli who delivered the well-placed pass for the assist on Kirsten’s record-setting goal in the second half that gave the Marlins a 3-0 advantage.

Arnold improved to 11-4-4 overall. Milton’s season ended at 7-13-1.

After both teams got out to inconsistent starts, Kirsten tied Williams’ mark and scored her first goal with a left-footed bender that crossed in front of the net and tucked just inside the far post. That broke a scoreless tie two minutes before halftime.

Kelli Crowley expanded Arnold’s lead to 2-0 midway through the second half when she collected a throw-in at her feet, spun quickly and chipped a shot over Milton’s goalkeeper.

Sarah Nohmer, who provided the Marlins with a number of well-timed counterattacks, finally was rewarded with a goal when she ripped a right-footed shot from 20 yards for Arnold’s final tally.

Choctaw 8, Rutherford 0

Choctaw gained the mercy rule win over winless Rutherford as expected, but the Rams certainly made the top-seeded Indians work for it behind a determined defensive effort. Just seven minutes remained on the scoreboard before Choctaw’s Brittany Thomas ended the game with her team’s eighth goal.

Megan Thomas scored three goals for Choctaw, which led 3-0 at halftime. Ashley Quackenbush, Maggie Vanhusan, Danielle Shebloski Weyer and Sydney Oliver also scored for the Indians (15-4-2).

Rutherford ended its season 0-16-1.