Soccer teams kick off 2023
Port St. Joe’s soccer teams have been busy, with both the boys and girls playing four matches since the start of the new year.
The Tiger Shark boys, now 9-3-3 (4-0-2 in 2A D1), started 2023 with a 4-0 loss at 6A Leon of Tallahassee on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Scoring two goals in each half, the Lions maintained constant pressure on the St. Joe side of the pitch with 30 shots, including 16 shots on goal.
Two nights later at St. John Paul II, the Tiger Sharks were down 1-0 at the half before Jaydon Gant tied the match in the second half, assisted by Josiah Beach. Goalkeeper Fisher Vandertulip managed six saves, and the contest ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
On Saturday, Jan. 7, playing their third consecutive away game, St. Joe came home with another tie, this time 3-3 against rival Rocky Bayou.
Taylor Burkett scored once, while Gant scored the other two Shark goals. Both Burkett and Gant also received credit for assists.
Back at home on Tuesday, Jan. 10 against North Bay Haven, St. Joe came out on top with a 4-2 win.
Tied 1-1 at the half, the Tiger Sharks scored three times in the second half to secure their ninth win of the season.
Burkett had two goals and an assist, with Gant and Beach also scoring a goal each. Gant also had two assists, and Estevan Angel set up a score with an assist.
Vandertulip recorded 13 saves during the contest.
After hosting Munroe on Tuesday, Jan. 17, St. Joe will conclude the regular season at home against Leon on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m.
Port St. Joe girls soccer
Justin Gerlach’s girls squad, now 6-7-2 (4-2 2A D1), won one of their four games to start January.
After a scoreless half at Leon on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Lions found the goal three times to claim a 3-0 win over the Sharks.
St. Joe had a better outcome on Thursday, Jan. 5, defeating St. John Paul II 3-1. Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Sharks scored three times after intermission..
Alexa Pavon, RJ Gerlach, and Hailyn Levins each scored a goal, with Gerlach assisting on one of the scores.
At Rocky Bayou on Saturday, Jan. 7, the Knights took a hard-fought 2-1 win over St. Joe. Rocky Bayou scored both of their goals in the first half before Lillian Williams found the net for the Tiger Sharks in the second half. During the contest, Brooke Peacock recorded 13 saves for St. Joe.
At home against North Bay Haven on Tuesday, January 10, the Sharks managed only one score in the 5-1 Buccaneer win.
Like the boys, the girls regular season will end on Saturday, January 21, with a home contest against Leon. Game time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.