From Monday, Jan. 31 through Thursday, Feb. 3, Wellington High School will be the epicenter of post-season high school soccer in the western communities.
The high school district playoffs are now underway, and there’s a good chance that the girls and boys soccer teams from Wellington High School, Palm Beach Central High School and Royal Palm Beach High School will battling for the championship of the Class 7A, District 11 soccer tournaments.
At stake is a chance to advance into the regional round and beyond in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s state tournament. The top two girls and boys teams that reach the finals of their respective tournaments will automatically earn a berth in the regionals, which start on Feb. 8 for the girls and Feb. 9 for the boys.
For the girls, the key dates are Tuesday, Feb. 1 and Thursday, Feb. 3. On Feb. 1, two semifinal games will be contested at WHS. The first semifinal will feature second-seeded Royal Palm Beach (12-5-2) versus third-seeded Palm Beach Central (3-7-1) at 6 p.m. In the second game, top-seeded Wellington (11-2-2) will host the winner of the Forest Hill High School (1-13-1) versus Palm Beach Gardens High School (2-7) quarterfinal played Wednesday, Jan. 26. That game kicks off at 8 p.m. The winner of those two semifinals will meet for the district title match on Thursday, Feb. 3. The kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at WHS.
For the boys, the relevant dates are Monday, Jan. 31 and Thursday, Feb. 3. On Jan. 31, two semifinal games will be played, also at WHS. In the first game, third-seeded Palm Beach Gardens (5-6-1) will play second-seeded Wellington (7-3-5) at 6 p.m. In the second game, which will start at 8 p.m., top-seeded Palm Beach Central (9-1-1) will play the winner of the Forest Hill (2-7-1) versus Royal Palm Beach (10-8-3) quarterfinal game played on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The winners of these two semifinals will play for the district championship on Thursday, Feb. 3, starting at 6 p.m. at WHS.
In both district tournaments, the boys and girls teams from Wellington are the defending champions.
Wellington’s boys team is making every effort to retain the district championship title, which would give the Wolverines a home game in the first round of the regionals.
“We are having some team-bonding activities, and we will practice penalty kicks as well,” coach Chris Carrera said. “I’ll be working on team mentality. We need to be strong and prepared on the field to face any possible adversities, and my players need to know how to conduct themselves. At this moment, the key motivation is to make the final for a possible rematch against Palm Beach Central, and we are trying to repeat our district championship. It hasn’t been done at our school in recent years. The seniors, obviously, want to go farther than we did last year, and that seems to be their big drive.”
For the girls and the boys soccer teams, the ultimate goal is to reach and win their respective Class 7A state championship game. The girls state final will be held on Feb. 25 at Spec Martin Stadium in Deland with a kickoff at 4:05 p.m. For the boys, their state championship game will also be played at Spec Martin Stadium on Feb. 26 at 4:05 p.m.
