January 26, 2024
Mount Dora and Eustis High School Girls Soccer Teams Clash for District Championship Berth
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora and Eustis High School Girls Soccer Teams Clash for District Championship Berth
With Eustis High School picking up an 8-0 win against Tavares High School on Wednesday evening, that sets the stage for a pivotal matchup between Mount Dora High School and Eustis High School girls soccer programs who will get set for a big game on Friday night.
Mount Dora High School is ranked as the #2 team in the district behind Bishop Moore who is ranked #1. Eustis High School had to play an extra game on Wednesday evening against Tavares. The Eustis Lady Panthers were never challenged in the game, winning 8-0 to set up a district showdown with a trip to the championship game on the line.
(The Mount Dora High School girls soccer team. Photo credit – Joe Ott Photographer “Fan Zone”
What is even more at stake is a spot in the FHSAA Class 4A soccer playoffs. If either of these two teams lose, there is a chance of not making it into the playoffs. We think that Mount Dora High and Eustis High should have enough of a strength of schedule to make it in but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
That is exactly how both of these teams will be taking this game on Friday Night. Mount Dora High comes in with a 14-1-2 record on the season. They are also 3-0 in district play. These two teams are familiar with one another having played each other on November 14th of 2023. Mount Dora would win that game 3-0.
(Eustis Evie Wood just recently signed to Concord University.)
Eustis has grown a lot and matured since that loss. Skye Dias leads the team with 40 goals this season. Meanwhile Andrea Romero who is a sophomore has 11 goals along with 9 assists. Freshman Paige Gustafson leads the team in assists with 10 on the year. Mount Dora will have to contend with some very stout players who have found an edge down the home stretch.
Eustis is 7-1-3 in their last 11 matches. They have only lost once against Seabreeze just a week ago. Eustis will be tough to stop, and the offense has really started to gel well down the home stretch. Eustis is outscoring their opponents 56-8 in the last 11 games. Mount Dora will be challenged.
As far as the Lady Hurricanes are concerned, they come into the match with momentum. They are winners of their last six games in a row. The only loss this season coming against East Ridge in a competitive 3-1 loss. If Mount Dora gets by Eustis they could certainly give Bishop Moore a game in the District Championship.
It should be a fun matchup on Friday evening. The game will be at Mount Dora High School at 7pm. Best of luck to both teams!
Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
