Seth StringerNorthwest Florida Daily News
NICEVILLE — Grant Wheeler and Cameron Pearson chalked it up to being in the right place, at the right time.
They're not wrong. Wheeler netted a pair of tap-ins and Pearson's point-blank goal capped a 3-0 Region 1-6A quarterfinal win over visiting Forest, the latest casualty in a streak of 13 wins for the Niceville boys soccer team.
But, by design, it's what the top-seeded Eagles (19-2-1) have done all year in ascending to No. 1 in 6A, second in the Sunshine State and No. 9 nationally by MaxPreps ahead of Friday's Sweet 16 against fifth-seeded Tate.
"We work on it in practice all the time, trying to get those easy chances," Niceville coach Wes Nelson said. "We know Grant if he gets it in front of the goal like that for an easy tap-in, he's gotta put it away. And that's true for any one of our guys."
Therein lies the beauty of Niceville: They move so well without the ball.
Winning 50-50 balls. Recovering on defense. Switching the field for attacks. Giving their mids wide targets. And, on this night, "being at the right place, at the right time."
Wheeler's first goal was set up by Keller Nelson, who broke free on the left side, baited the keeper out of position and threaded the needle to Wheeler for the one-touch goal. Coming out of a scoreless first half, the timing couldn't have been any more perfect.
"It was a great team play," Keller said. "From our right-back to center-mid to right-back to me, I looked up and saw Grant 1v1 and I said, he's good at that. So I hit in there and he does what does: He tucked it away."
It's poetry in motion to watch Wheeler without the ball. Always two steps ahead, always mindful of the positioning of his teammates, always finding the open space, ready for the pass or deflection. And he wasn't done.
Franklin Lupella set up Wheeler's 21st goal of the season, just as easy as the last, in the final 10 minutes.
"That was all my teammates," Wheeler deflected. "I mean, I score a lot of tap-ins. It's just my thing. A lot of that is being in the right place, at the right time. It's like poaching. We work on it so much so it's engraved in our minds of where I should be and what's most likely, like how or when the ball will to bounce to me. It's just routine for us."
"He's one of the best players in the state," Pearson said of Wheeler. "He's just always there and finds the ball. It's just the way he thinks."
Wanting to get in on the fun, Pearson summoned his inner Wheeler and netted a deflection in the final five minutes to reinforce Niceville's depth and back his brother, the high-flying Adrian, in the back row.
"I played out wide and I thought my teammate was going to score, but the ball found me and I was just in the right place, at the right time," he said.
As if he needed any more motivation as a sophom*ore shining on a 19-2-1 juggernaut, playing alongside his big bro has lit a fire.
"Especially with him being a senior and me a sophom*ore," Cameron said, "it gives me a push to win because I know this'll be our last season together."
Cameron's insurance, though, wouldn't be needed Tuesday. Not with a defense flexing 15 shutouts, 10 of which have come during the Eagles' current 13-game win streak.
"I think we're 19-0-1 when we score a single goal," Wheeler pointed out. "We're undefeated when we score a single goal, so we have a ton of faith in our defense. We know if we just score once, we can park the bus and get the win."
Coach chalked up the clean sheet to a complete effort.
"They have a few dangerous players and it definitely took a team to defend them," Nelson said. "I was happy with everyone stepping up."
Now Tate, fresh off a PK win over Buchholz that went eight rounds, comes to town Friday for a 7 p.m. start at Twin Oaks. The Aggies last made the trek to Niceville on Dec. 21, losing 1-0 on a Jacob Ticknor goal.
For Tate, it's about redemption. For Niceville, it's one more roadblock in the big picture. As coach Nelson said in the postgame huddle: "four to go."
