No. 6 Oviedo soccer staves off Edgewater in double OT

OVIEDO, FLORIDA – The Oviedo Lions didn’t quite seem hungry enough for a district title in regulation, but they showed their pride in double overtime.

Playing with a heightened sense of urgency and physicality, the Lions scored a goal in both the first and second overtimes to claw past upset-minded Edgewater 2-0 on Tuesday night and win the Class 6A, District 5 championship. The victory proved doubly sweet for Oviedo coach Scott Waisanen, who won his 300th career game.

Helping Waisanen get there was sophomore forward Jada Narcisse, who scored arguably the biggest goal of her career with 3:24 left in the first overtime, taking a crisp pass and working the ball around a defender and past the goalkeeper into the net. That broke a 0-0 tie and elicited screams and sounds of relief from the Oviedo sideline.

Star senior forward Ryleigh Holcomb, who has signed with Wofford in South Carolina, then iced the win for the Lions on a breakaway goal in the second overtime.

Four-time state champ Oviedo (15-2), ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, next hosts a regional quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Edgewater (11-6-4) also is expected to make the playoffs once the FHSAA releases its power rankings this weekend.

“These types of games are epic,” said Waisanen, who has led the Lions to four state championships and three state runner-up finishes in his 18 years at the helm. “Edgewater played their tails off. Our girls fought hard, their girls fought hard. It just came down to us capitalizing on a couple of plays.”

Oviedo dominated the game from start to finish in terms of possession, but missed on multiple scoring opportunities in regulation and struggled at times against a gutsy Edgewater defense.

Edgewater junior goalkeeper Lila Strange turned in a superb performance, recording 11 saves. But the Lions finally found a way around her in overtime.

“Hit the crossbar, hit the post,” said Waisanen. “They came at us a little bit. It was one of those really big title fights. It’s what you want. We came out on top.”

Narcisse was a picture of relief after the game. “There was a lot of adrenaline and tightness in overtime,” she said. “And like, it was really tense. And scoring that goal, it was a lot of relief and excitement and hope for our team.”

Narcisse said Edgewater’s defense gave the Lions everything they could handle. “They did have a tough defense,” she said. “The two (defenders marking me) were constantly on me. But we did a lot of combination plays, moving around and finding each other definitely helped.”

Edgewater coach Chris Vlaming said he was proud of his girls’ effort. “We came in with a game plan, playing against one of the big powerhouses in our area,” he said. “We wanted to minimize their strengths. I felt like our girls played really well for going 0-0 in the first 80 minutes. It really says a lot about our girls’ character.”

Despite the Eagles’ great defensive success, Vlaming said the strategy wasn’t about keeping the score down and hoping for a goal here and there. “We wanted to get at least nine girls behind the ball. We wanted to minimize their strengths. They play a 4-3-3 with a holding striker where she drops in. We knew we had to find Ryleigh. We put our best player on Ryleigh.”

Statistically, Oviedo outshot Edgewater 18-4. But it took a bit to find the net. Waisanen had a message for his team after regulation:

“When you go into overtime, you don’t think about the whole overtime. You just go 10 minutes at a time. It’s the next minute. You fight for that minute, work as a group. You stay organized, you communicate and you talk.

“You just win that first group. You win the first 5 minutes, then the last 5 minutes. Then, you get a break.”

Oviedo is expected to be the top seed in Region 2 in the playoffs. Vlaming figures his team will get a No. 5 or 6 seed.