It was an easy win for the boy’s soccer team on Friday night against Keys rival Coral Shores. Key West, celebrating Senior night, crushed the Hurricanes with a final score of 7-0. Bidieu Noel continued to score as he led the Conchs with two goals in the game. Noel now has 13 goals for the season. This was the final regular season game of the year as the Conchs end the regular season (14-3).
“Overall I think we did pretty well. It wasn’t that difficult of a game. One thing we need a lot of improvement on is our shooting percentage. We passed the ball well and were the dominant team tonight,” said Key West head coach Marc Pierre.
Key West was supposed to play in one final game at home against Pinecrest Prep but Pinecrest had to forfeit due to unknown reasons. Because of that, the team does not have another game for a week until the District playoffs start.
“This coming week we don’t have any games so I am looking forward to work on the shots and finishing on offense. If you look at the stats, we’ve had easily 40 shots and not many of them on target,” said Pierre.
The Conchs are currently third in the District 16 standings, behind only Keys Gate and Gulliver Prep. Earlier at the start of the season, Key West lost to Keys Gate 1-0, a game which Pierre believed Key West should have won. Depending on the final District 16 standings, the Conchs will either host the quarterfinals or receive a first round bye and host the semifinals.
“Right now, it depends on how everyone else plays. We are not sure about Keys Gate. If you look online, Keys Gate played Coral Shores and the score was never reported. We just have to wait and see for the other teams and how their schedules play out. Regardless, we should be hosting our next game at home,” said Pierre.
In the most recent rankings released on Friday by Max Preps, Pierre’s squad is 5th in the FHSAA State Class 2A, 44th statewide and 113th in the nation. According to Pierre, the team heads into the postseason with a high level of confidence.
“Regardless of whether we host quarterfinals or semifinals, I am expecting a win. We are going to work hard and get ourselves ready for the next game. It’s either go hard or go home in these next couple games,” said Pierre.
The very next morning, Saturday, the Lady Conchs hosted Ransom Everglades. On Friday night, Ransom lost to Marathon 1-0. Saturday morning, Ransom Everglades defeated Key West 3-1.
In the 18th minute, junior Mackenzie Cohen shot from the top of the box and was surprised to see the ball hit the back of the net. The beautiful shot gave Key West an early lead. Key West would struggle to create any sort of offense after the goal as Ransom dominated on defense.
In the 23rd minute, Ransom had tied the game at one a piece. In the second half, the game had gotten chippy between the two sides as the intensity increased. In the 52nd minute, Ransom made a great pass and the striker shot the ball to the left corner giving the team a 2-1 lead. In the 64th, Ransom Everglades had extended their lead to two goals. Key West was unable to spark a comeback, and Ransom headed home with a 3-1 win over the Lady Conchs.
Despite the loss, Key West ends the regular season with a winning record of 9-8-1. The Lady Conchs host Pinecrest Prep on Monday at 3:30 in the District quarterfinals. If they win, they travel on Wednesday to play in the semifinals and again on Friday for the championship game. The Lady Conchs are ranked 27th in the state class 2A and 149th statewide according to Max Preps.
The soccer season is heating up as both the boys and girls teams head into the postseason hoping to make a deep into the state playoffs.
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