FPC boys soccer team makes gains in transition year

After Flagler Palm Coast’s 4-0 loss to Bartram Trail in a District 1-7A boys soccer quarterfinal on Jan. 28, FPC coach Troy Stone thanked the visitors for coming.

The Bears, seeded fourth in the district, were supposed to host the game, but Bartram Trail’s girls team was also hosting that night, so the boys traveled to fifth-seeded FPC.

“That you guys would sacrifice to come down to FPC even though you earned the homefield advantage, we appreciate that,” Stone said.

“Thank you, coach,” the Bears’ players responded one by one.

A few steps away, FPC’s other coach, Ramtin Amiri, thanked the Bulldogs for a season they should be proud of.

“They didn’t have to win tonight to make me proud.”

RAMTIN AMIRI, FPC coach

“They didn’t have to win tonight to make me proud,” Amiri said afterward.

This was a season in transition for the Bulldogs. Stone, FPC’s head coach since the 2018-19 season, exchanged roles with Amiri. Stone retained administrative duties for the varsity team with Amiri taking over the lead coaching duties.

“It was an effort to push the program forward,” Stone said before the season. “Ramtin has the youth and the energy. When he was coaching JV, he was getting results he shouldn't have been getting. He finds ways to get the most out of his players.”

The Bulldogs finished the season with a 10-10-2 record, which is their best record since 2016, when Amiri was a junior on the team.

“They were pretty decent,” Amiri said of the Bears. “They knew what they were doing. You can hold your hands up and say they were the better opponent. But we can be proud of ourselves, because this was the best season we had since 2016 — the most goals scored since then (49), the most wins since then, the least (number) of losses since then — so we’ve shown improvement and that’s what’s important.”

Bartram Trail jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half and made it 4-0 late in the game.

Despite the final score, senior goalkeeper Tanner Paulo was named the Bulldogs’ player of the game.

“He has kind of been in the shadows of goal scorers and the guys who create chances up top, but he has been absolutely phenomenal.”

RAMTIN AMIRI on goalkeeper Tanner Paulo

“He has kind of been in the shadows of goal scorers and the guys who create chances up top, but he has been absolutely phenomenal,” Amiri said. “He didn’t have the greatest season last year, but he came back a totally different person this year with multiple clean sheets. He kept us in games, and he was able to score a goal this year, too, when he played on the field. So that was cool.”

While the Bulldogs will lose 12 seniors, they’ve also had several young players make an impact. Five freshmen combined to score 15 goals and dish out 11 assists this season.

We lost a couple of goal scorers toward the end of the season, but we adjusted,” Amiri said. “Loads of freshmen were able to step up this year, and they’ll step up next year, the same with the sophomores and juniors.”