Sidelines: FPC freshman sends off seniors with game winner

Flagler Palm Coast freshman Jack Moberly may have many more days in his high school soccer career like the one on Jan. 19.

But this one was special, not just for Moberly, but for the Bulldogs' 11 seniors who got to celebrate a victory on senior night in their final home game at FPC.

Moberly scored both goals in the Bulldogs' 2-1 victory over University with seniors Myles Clymer and Trevor Stone assisting. Moberly's goal early in the second half tied the score at 1-1. He punched in the go-ahead goal with about 10 minutes left.

"He was just more determined to get there than the goalkeeper," FPC coach Ramtin Amiri said. "When the goalkeeper came out, he put it right past him."

Moberly, who had been a defender for most of the season, was moved to forward recently. He also scored the lone goal in FPC's season-ending loss at DeLand on Jan. 21 to give him five for the season.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs (10-9-2) will travel to fourth-seed Bartram Trail (5-4-4) for a District 1-7A quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, which happens to be Amiri's 23rd birthday.

The winner will meet top-seed Jacksonville Mandarin in the semifinals Monday, Jan. 31 at Orange Park Oakleaf.

"I think the boys have worked hard the entire season," Amiri said. "We've beaten some pretty good teams, in my opinion."

This will be the first year the Bulldogs will finish with at least a .500 record since 2016, when Amiri was a junior on the team.

Pirates are the top seed

Matanzas is the top seed in the District 4-5A boys soccer tournament. The defending district champion Pirates will meet the Middleburg-Clay winner in the district semifinals at 7:20 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31 at Pedro Menendez High School.

The Pirates (8-4-1) are a more dangerous team up front than they have been in years past, coach Beto Aguilar said. They have scored 36 goals in 13 games with forwards Andrew Alvarez (13), Joseph "Fuji" Powell (7) and Aiden Cook (7) combining for 27 goals.

Alvarez and Cook have each scored five goals in the past three games. Cook, a sophomore, also leads the team with seven assists.

Meanwhile, junior goalkeeper Ben Kopach has led the defense with a .970 goals-against average and five shutouts.

"Ben has made some big saves to give us a little life and keep us in games," Aguilar said. "He's one of the main figures for us in the back, holding the anchor."