TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – After an early loss in Panama City, Tallahassee Soccer Club found its footing for the 2026 season. The Battle Lions hit their stride and found their mojo to punch a ticket to the League of Clubs Playoffs where they’re set to face off against the most familiar of foes.
The rivals from Pensacola Football Club are set to host TLHSC in a playoff semifinal on Wednesday night, the two clubs’ regular season derby matches both ended in hotly contested draws and both featured red cards.
“The difficult thing for them is they’re such a settled club and team, they’ve got a lot of players who play together year round, they’ve tog a good coach and they’ve got several familiar faces that have been around their program for several years,” said TLH head coach Joel Di Castri of the familiarity of the 850 rivals. “I think that’s also one of the things that’s seen a change in our success this year is we’ve got returning players and some of our younger players are really getting used to the process of being at this level.”
“This is like creme de la creme,” said goalkeeper Xander Balog of taking on PFC for a spot in the playoff finals. “This is as [Coach] Joel would say a Cup Final. This is the one that matters. If you win here you’ve got a lot of momentum going into the next one so a big win here would be phenomenal.”
Tallahassee takes the pitch against Pensacola on Wednesday at 8 PM. The winner is set to face the victor in the other semifinal between Union 10 and Gaffa FC for the League of Clubs Championship.
To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Nextdoor and X (Twitter).
Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here. Please include the article’s headline in your message.
Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here to get started.
Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.