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Columbia’s Skyler Ziegaus is the LCR’s Girls Soccer Player of the Year for a third straight season. (MANDI SLOAN/Special to the Reporter)
Skyler Ziegaus merely scratched the surface of what she was capable of her first two years at Columbia. But as a freshman in a covid-ridden season, her coaches and teammates knew there was something special about her even before she was named the Lake City Reporter’s Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
She wasn’t satisfied. So Ziegaus did it again, earning the honor a second year in a row after pushing for the school’s goal record, set by head coach Chip Garner’s daughter, Kirsten, back in 2020. While she came up just five goals shy of the mark, she spoke with supreme confidence that it was exactly what she planned to do the following season.
Garner gave her his blessing to do so. And so, naturally, she did.
In the District 2-5A quarterfinals against Middleburg, she came one shy of tying the record. In a 3-2 upset over No. 2-seeded Clay in the semis, she pulled even with — and then surpassed — the 27-goal threshold set by Kirsten just a few years prior.
Add on one more in Columbia’s first-ever playoff game, and Ziegaus finished with the new record of 29 goals, while also racking up a team-best nine assists. She wound up averaging nearly 1.5 goals per game.
Ziegaus has the record all to herself now, along with a third consecutive nod for the LCR Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
“It’s been a goal of mine for a few years,” Ziegaus said. “When I say I’m going to do something and I put my mind to it, I always get it done. I’m definitely proud of myself.”
Breaking the record was no biggie, at least according to Garner, who said she was right on track to do so at the end of the 2021 campaign. Now that it’s official, he said it’s all love between the new record-holder and him.
“There was nothing but encouragement,” Garner said of Ziegaus, one of his team’s captains for the year. “I think she’s developed more as a leader than anything else that she does. She kind of embraced the captainship this year, and I know it wasn’t something she (sought).”
Mild-mannered off the pitch, Ziegaus had a fiery streak on it during Columbia’s 14-6 run through the season which saw winning streaks of six and eight games apiece during the school’s inaugural berth in the state playoffs. That first winning stretch of six games was capped off by a 2-0 win over Gainesville.
Before that, Ziegaus-led teams had gone 1-3-1 against the Hurricanes, including a season-opening loss in November where she landed just one shot on goal.
“I think any game against GHS definitely stays with me,” Ziegaus said. “Those are definitely our most competitive games, the games that get heated up. Those are the fun ones to me. I love those games.”
For the December matchup, Ziegaus decided to not just let her play do the talking, but to do a little more talking herself against a familiar opponent. Several Canes players were former teammates of Ziegaus’ when she played with the Gainesville Soccer Alliance travel ball team.
“We were at the corner flag, and (a GHS player) was behind me, and she pushed me,” Ziegaus said of the December game. “So I turned around, and I pushed her back… She said something to me, so I (made an L with my fingers), and I put it up in her face.”
Garner has seen this competitiveness play out dozens of times by now. He’s no longer surprised by what Ziegaus can do on the pitch, instead choosing to embrace the greatness his team was gifted.
“From the moment the whistle blows, it’s a different character out there,” Garner said. “She almost plays with a bit of a chip on her shoulder.”
After suffering a pair of losses in the middle of the season, Ziegaus and the Tigers ripped off their eight-game win streak, punctuated by that 3-2 win over Clay to advance to the district championship. Her two first-half goals and one assist were enough to hold on as the Blue Devils mounted a desperate second-half comeback attempt that fell just short.
It didn’t register with Ziegaus that she’d both tied and broken the record in that historic match. Nor did it for the final two games of the year. It wasn’t until after the team’s 3-1 loss to Lecanto in the state tournament that she realized she’d accomplished what she’d set out to do.
“I was so excited,” Ziegaus said. “I guess this season, I was more focused on the whole team getting to districts and getting out of there and go into state.”
So what does an enormously talented player do for an encore? Well, as a junior, Ziegaus doesn’t have one planned. After all, she’s set to graduate early, forgoing her senior year at Columbia in favor of entering into the working field to help support her family.
Her dream of playing Division I soccer has had to shift around a bit. After receiving just one offer that she admittedly didn’t really follow through on, Ziegaus said she felt she was needed more by her family than any other team.
Ziegaus doesn’t quite know what her legacy at Columbia is going to be. A talented young star in rising junior Mia Brasel could push for a new record in the coming years. Rising senior Olivia Kelly could be the heir apparent after an injury-shortened 2022 season. They each have her blessing to do so, same as she received just last season.
And Ziegaus said she’d be more than happy to drop in on a few practices next season to check up on her former teammates, offering encouragement to them to do just that. But Ziegaus said she knows that nobody take away from what she gave to the team.
“I’ve always just wanted to be known as the top,” Ziegaus said. “Setting the school record is definitely something that did it for me.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
FW: Lyda Plunkett
Lafayette, senior
Scored an area-best 39 goals and had three assists to help the Hornets finish 17-4-2.
FW: Carra Clark
Lafayette, freshman
Scored 26 goals and had 10 assists to help the Hornets win back-to-back district titles.
FW/MF: Kiera Tracy
Fort White, senior
Led the Indians with 19 goals and five assists.
FW/MF: Olivia Kelly
Columbia, junior
Scored four goals and had seven assists.
MF: Skyler Zeigaus
Columbia, junior
The 3-time LCR Girls Soccer Player of the Year set a new school record with 29 goals, breaking Kirsten Garner’s 2020 mark of 27. She also led her team with nine assists to help the Tigers finish 14-6 and clinch their first playoff berth ever.
MF: Ella McAdams
Lafayette, freshman
Scored nine goals and had an area-most 29 assists.
MF: Mia Brasel
Columbia, sophomore
Scored 12 goals and had six assists.
DEF: Kyndall Norris
Columbia, sophomore
Played center back, anchoring a defense that allowed two goals per game.
DEF: Lilly Schneider
Columbia, junior
Anchored the middle of a defense as the other center back, helping hold teams to two goals per game.
DEF: Jolette Moreno
Lafayette, senior
Anchored a defense that allowed just 30 goals in 23 matches.
GK: Ayleen Negrete
Lafayette, senior
Led the area with 187 saves and allowed only 30 goals in 23 matches, posting 12 shutouts.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Chip Garner, Columbia
Garner led the Tigers to their first-ever playoff berth, finishing with a 14-6 record. Columbia finished the season as the highest ranked team in the area by MaxPreps and was awarded the No. 5 seed in its region thanks to an eight-game winning streak during the second half of the season. The Tigers’ season ended with a loss to Lecanto in the regional quarterfinals.