Aubrey Rogers stuns Verot in penalties; Canterbury, ECS advance in 1A

A roundup of regional quarterfinal soccer matches in the FHSAA boys and girls state tournament played Feb. 2-6, 2026:

Girls Soccer

Class 3A-Region 3

Aubrey Rogers 2, Bishop Verot 2 (7-6 in PKs)

STORY TO COME...

— Alex Martin

Class 1A-Region 3

Canterbury 4, First Baptist 0: A seventh-grade softball player in the net and some chaos in the offensive zone were the ingredients in top-seeded Canterbury’s 4-0 win over eighth seed First Baptist in the FHSAA Region 1A-3 quarterfinals at Abuoqab Family Stadium on Monday night.

The Cougars (16-5-0), who are ranked third in Class 1A, will host a rematch next Monday with fourth-seeded Indian Rocks Christian, who knocked them out in the regional final last year.

Canterbury’s goal-scoring tandem of Gloriana Chalkias and Mackenzie Molina added to their lofty scoring totals to lead the way, but quick passing into the box and maneuverability by nearly everyone in a blue shirt limited First Baptist’s ability to respond.

“Causing chaos is the goal, making the game the least amount comfortable for the other team, is our mission,” Canterbury coach Paolo Acosta said.

Chialkas scored two goals to bring her season total to 24 and Molina scored her 21st. Mackenzie’s sister Alexis Molina also scored, netting her third of the season. Savannah Struble had 2 assists and Mia Accola had 1.

Those numbers might have been higher but for the Lions’ eighth-grade goalkeeper Nicole Cox, who scrambled to make 15 saves, one sixth of her total for the whole season.

“She’s been solid all year long, consistently making saves that she should make and making some saves she shouldn’t make,” FBA coach Mark Bates said.

Cox left the game with two minutes left after hitting her head in a collision with another player.

“We’ll just protect her going through the concussion protocol as far as checking her in the morning, but she appears to be okay,” Bates said.

The Lions finished their season at 10-5-3 with the District 1A-12 championship.

Canterbury goalie Sloane Caroll minded the net for nearly 66 minutes of the shutout, picking up 4 saves. She was pulled for regular starter Evelynn Jones, who had been out with a meniscus injury since early December, to finish the game. Caroll, a seventh-grader whose primary sport is softball, has been the starting goalkeeper over that span.

“We’ve had our seventh-grader Sloane step up and she really took a handle to being the starting keeper, at least for the time being right now,” Acosta said. “We’re trusting that, so we’re in no rush to bring everyone back. (Jones) is still a junior and the last thing we want to do is start and stop, so we’ll be patient with her.”

As for the next opponent, Acosta has a week to decide whether Jones is ready to start or if he should stick with Caroll. He was surprised that Indian Rocks Christian received the No. 4 seed instead of No. 3, but regardless, he said his team is ready.

“No matter what, if we want to take it to the state Final Four, we have to play against them,” Acosta said. So yeah, there is motivation that if we have them, there’s that little sour taste from last year.”

Alexis Molina scored first for the Cougars, the only goal of the first half. Taking a pass from Struble, she dribbled and then shot the ball between Cox’s feet, like a hockey player scoring in the five-hole, making it 1-0.

One minute into the second half, Accola sent a cross to Chalkias that was deposited into the net. In the 53rd minute, Struble extended her foot to kick the ball behind her into the box, which Chalkias turned into the net for her second goal.

Mackenzie Molina used some fancy footwork in the closing minutes of the game, deking past the goalie and then dribbling the ball all the way into the net – literally running into the net herself, to the amusement of the spectators.

— Dave Montrose

Evangelical Christian 3, Bradenton Christian 1: The Bradenton Christian girls' soccer team's playoff season officially came to a close against Evangelical Christian as the third seeded Panthers (10-4-4) fell to the sixth-seeded Sentinels in the regional quarterfinals of the FHSAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament at Dan van Der Kooy Field at McClure Stadium.

"I thought we played okay," Bradenton Christian head coach Stephen Jerome said. "We had a couple of tough breaks here and there and missed a couple of good opportunities. Evangelical is a good team and deserve all the credit. They played well and I hope they do well the rest of the season. I'm very proud of the girls this year. We are a very young team with eight freshmen returning next season and I think it's something we can build and learn upon this season."

The Sentinels would open on the scoreboard first as freshman Brooke Foss would score in the upper left-hand corner for her 21st goal of the season. The Panthers would not go away quietly as junior Kamryn Benigni would hit a cross to an open freshman forward Giuliana Speciale who would hit the equalizer for her 20th of the season before halftime.

In the second half, Evangelical Christian would put pressure on the Panthers as freshman Avery Fetter would give the Sentinels the lead with her fourth goal of the season before Foss extended the lead to 3-1 with her second goal of the game before the final whistle

The Sentinels (13-5-2) will advance to the regional semifinals and take on Out-of-Door Academy, 5-2 winners over Saint Stephen's.

— Patrick Clines

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Canterbury, Aubrey Rogers, ECS girls all advance to regional semis