GREEN COVE SPRINGS –Clay Blue Devil girls soccer, after a fairly simple 8-0 rout of visiting Keystone Heights High School, faced a formidable opponent with 4A-Nease High (10-3-2) visiting and Clay coach Stephanie Waugh was looking for a complete package as her team turns the final corner of the soccer season and prepares for the playoffs.

“Even our practices, it clicks,” said Waugh. “It’s bringing it onto the field, just bringing their confidence and reminding them why you’re here.”

The outcome was nothing close to what she was looking for as the Blue Devils would go down in defeat to the Nease Panthers 4-1.

“We didn’t have all 15 on their 110% tonight and it makes the difference,” said Waugh after the game. “I don’t count on one girl, I count on all of them. Everybody wasn’t in it and it cost us some goals.”

The Blue Devils seemed to miss a spring in their step as they prepared to play. Once the game began, that all changed. At 27:35 left in the first half, Brooke Green set a perfect leading pass to a wide-open Allyssa Stoffel who found herself one-on-one for a surprising first salvo in what was anticipated to be a fast, furious contest.

At the first water break, both teams were almost even for shots on goal. For the next almost 17 minutes, the Panthers and Devils volleyed the ball back and forth with both teams getting off several missed shots.

It was during this foray when the wind seemed to come out of Clay’s sails. With 3:32 remaining in the first, the Panthers struck twice quickly with a corner kick leading to a header goal and a hard shot that sailed right to left as the momentum shifted with the 2-1 halftime score.

In the second half, Clay’s lackluster drive continued and Nease took no time at all to take full advantage.

With just two minutes off the clock, Nease scored off a tipped ball to go up 3-1.

With 10:15 left in the game, Nease delivered the final blow bringing the score to 4-1.

“We are almost at the end of the season. Are you going to work that hard and just let it all go or are you going to move to the next game?” said Waugh.

Waugh had Stoffel at a midfield defender position through most of the season, but put her back in her normal offensive forward role the past few games to shore up some scoring opportunities.

“I did stick with it and I liked it and I felt in the beginning our counter attack and our attack were a little bit stronger,” said Waugh. “I think it worked. I didn’t change it even though we were getting beat. Our touch was way off and our support was way off. We didn’t have too much on our side at all tonight.”

Girls Soccer

as of January 6 (Christmas break Dec. 22-Jan. 5)

District 4-3A

District tournament at Menendez Jan. 16-20

2016: Ponte Vedra (Champions, state runnerups); Clay (runnerups, beat Stanton, lost to Ponte Vedra in region semifinals)

Menendez (11-2-1, 6-0) Wins over Palatka (8-0), Orange Park (8-0), Matanzas (5-1), Atlantic Coast (4-1), Paxon (8-0), Ridgeview (4-0); Clay (3-1); Interlachen (8-0); St. Augustine (10-0); Ponte Vedra (1-0); Losses to Flagler (7-1), Nease (3-1)

Next up: St. Augustine Jan. 6, at St. Joseph Academy Jan. 12

Ponte Vedra (7-3-6, 4-1-1) Wins over Orange Park (9-0), Matanzas (8-2), Episcopal (2-1), Lake Mary (1-0), Ridgeview (8-0), Palatka (8-0); Cardinal Gibbons (2-0); Losses to Creekside (2-0), SJCDS (3-2), Niceville (3-2); St. Johns Country Day School (3-2); Menendez (1-0); Tie with Bolles (1-1), Merritt Island (1-1), Fletcher (1-1), Clay (2-2); Newsome (1-1), Stanton (0-0)

Next up: Creekside Jan. 6, at Nease Jan. 11, Bartram Trail Jan. 13

Clay (11-3-1, 4-1-1) Wins over Palatka (9-0), Oakleaf (2-1), Orange Park (9-1), Keystone Heights (10-0), Ridgeview (3-2), Matanzas (4-2), Middleburg (8-0), Baker County (13-0); Ridgeview; Keystone Heights (8-0); Loss to SJCDS (4-1); Tie with Ponte Vedra (2-2); Menendez (3-1); Nease (4-1)

Next up: Middleburg Jan. 9, Palatka Jan. 10, P.K. Yonge Jan. 13

Matanzas (10-7-1, 3-3-0) Wins over Palatka (8-0), Wolfson (18-0), Orange Park (10-1), Interlachen (8-0) Sandalwood (8-0), Ridgeview (7-4), Deltona (8-0); St. Augustine (8-0); Middleburg (8-0); White (16-0); Losses to Ponte Vedra (8-2), Menendez (5-1), Clay (4-2), Seabreeze (6-4), Nease (3-1), Flagler Palm Coast (9-4); Bartram Trail (8-0); Tie to Flagler Palm Coast (4-4).

Next up: at Deland Jan. 6, Bishop Kenny Jan 9, at Astronaut Jan. 12

Ridgeview (5-8-0, 1-5-0) Wins over Palatka (8-0), Middleburg (9-1), St. Augustine (10-3), Orange Park (5-0); Middleburg (8-0); Losses to Oakleaf (3-1), SJCDS (8-0), Clay (3-2), Ponte Vedra (8-0), Matanzas (7-4), Menendez (4-0), Clay Oakleaf

Next up: Fernandina Beach Jan. 10, at Bishop Kenny Jan. 13

Orange Park (2-9-1, 1-4-0) Wins over Palatka (5-3); Crescent City (6-2); Losses to West Nassau (6-2); Ponte Vedra (9-0); Matanzas (10-1); Clay (9-1); Menendez (8-0); Middleburg (3-1); Yulee (4-2); Bartram Trail (8-0); Middleburg (7-1); Tie to Keystone Heights (3-3)

Next up: at Fleming Island Jan. 6, West Nassau Jan. 9, at Oakleaf Jan. 11, at Clay Jan. 18

Palatka (3-8-0, 0-6-0) Wins over Interlachen (3-1), Wolfson (8-0); Losses to Matanzas (8-0), Clay (9-0), Menendez (8-0), Newberry (3-0), Ridgeview (8-0), Orange Park (5-3), Fort White (2-1), Ponte Vedra (8-0)

Next up: Keystone Heights Dec. 12, Yulee Dec. 13

District 4-4A

District tournament at Bartram Trail Jan. 16-20

2016: Creekside (Champions, lost to Niceville region finals), Nease (Runnerups, lost to Fletcher region quarters)

Bartram Trail (11-2-2, 5-0-1) Wins over Mandarin (6-0), Fleming Island (2-0), Oakleaf (7-2), Orange Park (8-0), Middleburg (12-0), Fletcher (5-0), St. Augustine (8-0), Middleburg (12-0); Matanazas (8-0); Nease (5-1); Episcopal (6-2), Paxon (8-0); Losses to Bolles (5-3), SJCDS (4-1); Tie to Creekside (1-1), Flagler (1-1)

Next up: at Ponte Vedra Jan. 13,

Creekside (7-3-6, 3-0-2) Wins over Fletcher (3-0), Ponte Vedra (2-0), St. Augustine (8-0), Nease (3-1); Ponte Vedra (6-1); Losses to SJCDS 4-2, Episcopal (3-2); Tie with Fleming Island (0-0), Merritt Island (1-1), Lake Mary (1-1); Stanton (2-2), Bartram Trail (1-1)

Next up: Bolles (10-5-2) Jan. 12

Nease (11-3-1, 5-2-0) Wins over Fleming Island (1-0), Oakleaf (3-2), Menendez (3-1), Stanton (2-1), St. Augustine (8-0), Matanzas (3-1) Bolles (1-0); St. Augustine (8-0), Atlantic Coast (2-0); Middleburg (8-0), Clay (4-1); Losses to Buchholz (2-0); Creekside (3-1), Bartram Trail (5-1); Tie with Flagler (2-2), Creekside (3-1)

Next up: at Episcopal (11-4) Jan 9, Ponte Vedra (7-3-6) Jan. 11, Paxon (5-7-2) Jan. 12

Fleming Island (10-2-2, 4-2-1) Wins over Middleburg (11-0), Fletcher (5-0), Ocala Forest (6-0), Mandarin (2-0), Oakleaf (4-1) Stanton (2-1), St. Augustine (8-0); Oakleaf, (4-1), P.K. Yonge; Duval Charter (8-0); Orange Park; Losses to Nease (1-0), Bartram Trail (2-0); Tie with Creekside (0-0), Bolles (1-1)

Next up: Episcopal (11-4-0) Jan. 11.

Oakleaf (3-4-0, 1-2-0) Wins over Ridgeview (3-1), St. Augustine (8-0), Middleburg (8-0); Bishop Snyder (5-2); Losses to Clay (2-1), Nease (3-2), Buchholz (3-2), Bartram Trail (7-2), Creekside, Fleming IslandBartram Trail (7-2), Creekside (2-0), Fleming Island (4-1)

Next up: Orange Park (2-9-1) Jan. 11

Stats: Michelle Kanaskie (14 goals), Nicolette Conte (7 goals) Alyssa Farmer ( 7 goals); Assists-Conte (14)

Middleburg (5-10-0, 1-5-0) Wins over Sandalwood (3-2), St. Augustine (3-2), Orange Park (3-1); Wolfson (8-0); Orange Park (7-1); Losses to Fleming Island (11-0), Snyder (9-1), Oakleaf (8-0); Bartram Trail (12-0); Nease (8-0); Matanzas (8-0),

Next up: at Clay Jan. 9, at Keystone Heights Jan. 13

St. Augustine (0-12-0, 0-5-0) Losses to Middleburg (3-2), Oakleaf (8-0), Nease (0-8), Ridgeview (10-3), Creekside (8-0), Bartram Trail (8-0); Matanzas (8-0); Sandalwood (2-0); Menendez (10-0); Menendez (8-0)

Next up: at Flagler Palm Coast Jan. 12

District 5-2A

District tournament at Fort White Jan. 17-20

2016: Santa Fe (champions, lost in region finals to Bishop Moore), P.K. Yonge (runnerups, lost to Santa Fe in region semifinals)

Keystone Heights (10-5-3, 7-2-1) Wins over St. Francis (5-0), Fort White (3-1), Crescent City (8-1), Newberry (3-0), Williston (5-1), Crescent City (3-1), Baker County (6-1), Interlachen (5-0), Fort White (2-0); Palatka (3-2); Losses to Clay (9-0), P.K. Yonge (6-3), West Nassau (3-0), Santa Fe (5-0); Tie with Orange Park (3-3); Clay (8-0); Ties to Gainesville (2-2); Newberry (1-1)

Next up: at Williston Jan. 6, Interlachen Jan. 12, Middleburg Jan. 13

Santa Fe (13-3-1, 8-0-0))

Newberry (10-3-1, 9-2-1)

Keystone Heights (10-5-3, 7-2-1)

P.K. Yonge (8-6-0, 6-4-0)

Fort White (5-8-4, 4-5-2)

Interlachen (23-14-1, 3-8-1)

Crescent City (1-12-2, 0-10-2)

Williston (2-9-2, 2-8-1)

Bradford (0-0-0)

District 2-1A

District tournament at Christ’s Church Academy Jan. 17-20

2016: SJCDS (Champions, state champs) St. Joseph (runnerup, lost to SJCDS in region semifinal)

St. Johns Country Day School (15-0-0, 5-0-0, Ranked #1 in Florida (Topdrawersoccer.com) Wins over Ridgeview (8-0), Maclay (3-0), Episcopal (7-0), Hamilton County (8-0), St. Francis (8-0), Creekside (4-2), Bartram Trail (4-1), Christs Church (8-0), University Christian (8-0), Clay (4-1), St. Joseph (2-0), Ponte Vedra (3-2); Santa Fe (8-0); Mandarin (5-0); Bolles (2-0)

Next up: Oak Hall Jan. 6, Gainesville Jan. 10, P.K. Yonge Jan. 12

St. Johns Country Day School (15-0-0, 5-0-0)

St. Joseph Academy (3-2-0, 2-1-0)

Christs Church (4-4-1, 3-2-0)

Oak Hall (9-2-1, 3-2-1)

Hamilton County (5-6-2, 0-3-1)

St. Francis Catholic (5-5-2, 1-3-0)

University Christian (0-5-0, 0-3-0)