Soccer Game Preview: Gulf Breeze vs. Fort Walton Beach

The Gulf Breeze Dolphins will face off against the Fort Walton Beach Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Gulf Breeze's last seven matches have been decided by no more than a goal, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

Gulf Breeze is likely headed into the game with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Chiles on Saturday. Gulf Breeze fell just short of Chiles by a score of 1-0. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Dolphins came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Florida soccer rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Timberwolves are ranked 45th).

Meanwhile, Fort Walton Beach kept a clean sheet against Crestview on Saturday. They blew past the Bulldogs 7-0. The result kept the Vikings happy, as they haven't lost a game since December 7, 2024.

Their offense was hitting Crestview from everywhere, as six different players booted in a goal. Brian Chadwell led that balanced group of strikers and accounted for two goals all by himself.

Fort Walton Beach has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 8-4-1 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they scored 24 goals over those six games. As for Gulf Breeze, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-4-3.

Gulf Breeze was able to grind out a solid win over Fort Walton Beach in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, winning 3-1. Will Gulf Breeze repeat their success, or does Fort Walton Beach have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.