ORANGE PARK - St. Johns Country Day School's Victoria Sarka scored four goals in the game’s first 20 minutes as the Spartans cruised to a 7-0 victory over visiting Mount Dora Christian Academy to win the Region 1-1A championship on Feb. 13.

The Spartans, ranked first in Florida’s Class 1A by Maxpreps.com, advance to the Class 1A state semifinals in Auburndale, where they will take on 7th-ranked Victory Christian Academy (13-7-0) on Feb. 20 at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

SJCD head coach Mike Pickett knew that the 5-foot-8 Sarka would have a favorable match-up with the smaller Bulldogs.

“She is so fast and big and powerful, so we just told her, ‘You’ve got to be dominant,’” Pickett said. “Run at her for 80 minutes and if she can stop you for 80 minutes, we will take our hat off to her. But we knew she would not.”

Sarka, a senior who is committed to play for Trevecca of the Nazarene next year, leads SJCD with 32 goals on the season, most of them coming via header. But on Friday, the senior striker scored all her goals with her feet.

“Her foot game has gotten better,” Pickett said. “Last year she could not hit a left-footed ball three yards, so that has improved tremendously.”

The Spartans attacked the Bulldog defense intensely from the opening kick, dominating possession time and shots on goal. The pressure paid off at the 30-minute mark of the first half when SJCD forward Alana Mantello sailed a corner kick from the left side that ricocheted off of the near goalpost and deflected off of the shoulder of Bulldogs center back Katie Bayly to the feet of Sarka, who booted a low drive past Mount Dora goalkeeper Emmi Bowman for the game’s first goal.

Sarka struck again just a minute later, dribbling down the right side and launching a high shot at a difficult angle over Bowman that struck the goal post on the far side and bounced into the net.

Sarka extended the Spartans’ lead to 3-0 at the 21:13 mark. Freshman Adisienne Taylor outhustled Bulldogs fullback Autumn Walker to the ball near the Mount Dora end line and quickly launched a centering pass that Sarka burst forward to tap past Bowman.

Just after Mount Dora took its first shot on goal, Sarka scored her final goal. At the 17:18 mark of the first half, senior Calli Berrang centered the ball from the left side past several players to Sarka, who was able to lift the ball over Bowman and off the crossbar for the score and a 4-0 lead for the hosts.

Pickett had emphasized the importance of a good start to his Spartans after they led only 1-0 at halftime of their regional semifinal win over Rocky Bayou Christian on Feb. 10.

“I told them if we played another first half like we did last week then we would not be going to the final four,” Pickett said. “This team [Mount Dora] has enough athletes that if you let them get going then it is going to be a dogfight. Our goal was to high press them early, turn them over and keep them under pressure in the final third.”

Sarka got an assist on the Spartans’ fifth goal, perfectly lofting a corner kick into the center of the goalie box where SJCD fullback Annabelle Ernst kicked it past a helpless Bowman 5:17 before halftime.

Pickett substituted liberally from that point on, and SJCD took their 5-0 lead into the intermission.

In a second half interrupted by two 15-minute power outages, forward Alana Mantello’s corner kick at the 30:25 mark was headed in by Berrang, who used her 5-foot-9 frame to rise above the defense. Junior Lizzie Nowicki then took advantage of a mishit goal kick by Bowman, blasting the slowly rolling ball back past the keeper and into the net for the final margin with seven minutes remaining.

The Spartans enjoyed a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks and outshot the Bulldogs 22-5. SJCD goalie Alyvia Bishop only needed to make one save. Freshman back-up Brynley Proffitt made two saves in the second half.

The outcome could have been worse for Mount Dora, which finishes its season with a 13-4-2 record, but for 13 saves by Bowman, including one punch save, a kick save and a diving stop. Bowman is committed to play softball at Notre Dame next year.

SJCD has yet to allow a goal in four playoff games, and Friday’s win was SJCD’s 15th shutout of the season. If the Spartans are going to win their 16th state championship— all under Pickett— and either break or maintain a tie with Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas, who also has 15 state championships in girls soccer and played in a regional final in Class 6A on Feb. 17, then their defense will carry them to it.

“I have had much better teams with the ball, and possession-wise we are not what we have been in the past, but this team is really good defensively,” said Pickett, who believes that if the Spartans can score two goals in both the semifinal and final then SJCD will defend their 2025 championship.