Friday, November 6, 2026
Michelle Acosta celebrates the first goal of her career with teammate Lily Tessarzik.
Co-Captain Helen Totten plays defense.
Co-captain Helen Totten looks like a ballet dancer as she prepares to strike the ball.
Janie Cartwright has beaten her defenders and is ready to take a shot on goal.
Co-captain Mary Montgomery looks to pass.
Gracie Johnson tries to shake a defender. Johnson scored twice against Seacrest.
Kacie Swanson looks for a teammate on an in-bound pass play.
The Marco Island Academy girls soccer team got off on the right foot Thursday, January 23, dominating Seacrest, 3-0, at Manta Ray Field. The Rays advance to the 1A District 12 semifinals at top-seeded St. John Neumann on Monday, January 27. It will be the second game in 10 days between the fifth-seed Rays and the Celtics, who narrowly defended their home turf with a 2-1 win over MIA back on January 17. Rays coach Jax Wantlin urged her team to put the tough loss behind them going into Monday’s re-match.
“Hopefully we’ll learn from what we did the last game,” Wantlin said, "and come out with a win. But I think they did awesome today.”
The Rays, 4-7-1, were in control the whole way against winless Seacrest (0-11). Wantlin has been looking for her team to be more aggressive when in scoring position. She likes what she saw from her team against Seacrest.
"I love what they did,” Wantlin said. "They took shots. We tried a couple people in different spots, and they really showed us that they wanted to do it. They definitely took shots, which was a big thing. We needed to have somebody to actually aim towards goal and hopefully make it. If not, then they tried. I think they actually tried it tonight. We tell them that you're never going to be comfortable when you're trying to shoot. You just take a shot. If you're comfortable when you're trying to shoot, it won't go in most likely. That's what I like to say.”
Wantlin wanted her team to believe they could turn things around against the 10-6 Celtics.
“Sometimes I think they just get in their heads,” Wantlin said, "that if we lose against a team beforehand, that they can't do it the next time. So, I wish that they would just get those past games out of their heads and show that they actually can do it. We played them last Friday and it was in the rain. It was kind of a cold night there. It was their Senior Night. Monday looks like it might be a little warmer, so I'm hoping that will help us too."
The winner of Monday’s game faces the winner of the semifinal between second seed First Baptist Academy and third-seed Village School on Thursday, January 30 on the higher seed’s field.
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