ORMOND BEACH — Seabreeze's girls and New Smyrna Beach's boys defended their Five Star Conference championships Thursday night, braving rainy and chilly conditions to fend off local rivals in regulation.

Seabreeze struck twice in the opening half in a 3-1 victory over Flagler Palm Coast in the girls final, and New Smyrna Beach defeated Spruce Creek for the third time in four meetings this winter 2-1 by scoring a go-ahead goal with 15 minutes left.

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Friday is the final date for regular season high school soccer games, with district tournaments starting across Florida as early as Wednesday. Teams will be seeded based on the FHSAA's rankings, and district champions will gain automatic entry into the state playoffs.

The Five Star tournament gave teams a taste of knockout soccer. Here are five Volusia-Flagler players who starred throughout the three-round event.

Tristan Bodnar, Spruce Creek

It's no surprise the area's top boys soccer goal-scorer showed up on the scoresheet more than once, but senior Bodnar came through in clutch moments as well.

He buried a go-ahead penalty kick in the second half in the semifinal round against surging Flagler Palm Coast, and a left-footed insurance strike into the top corner for good measure. Bodnar also pulled the Hawks level against New Smyrna Beach, being in the right place at the right time on a bouncing throw-in into the penalty area.

Bodnar is up to 25 goals on the campaign, in addition to five assists. Bo Radziul contributed a pair of goals in last Saturday's 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Taylor.

Weston Desoto, New Smyrna Beach

New Smyrna Beach rotated its 11 in the early rounds, giving plenty of players opportunities to stand out. Jake Larson tallied a second-half hat trick against DeLand, Dylan Dongilli allowed just one goal and made several important saves against Spruce Creek and Hugues Iguaran controlled the tempo from midfield.

Desoto, however, provided the scoring touch for the Barracudas in Thursday's final. He had a goal disallowed due to an offside call, but had both of the team's tallies in the end.

New Smyrna Beach, with an overall record of 20-1-1, hopes to make another deep run in the FHSAA Class 6A playoffs. Desoto's missed last year's postseason due to a knee injury.

Natalie Neal, Flagler Palm Coast

Making a strong case as the area's top girls goalkeeper, Neal maintained consecutive clean sheets in FPC's opening two games and kept the Bulldogs in the tournament with penalty shootout heroics Tuesday.

FPC trailed New Smyrna Beach 3-2 after three shots apiece, and the Bulldogs' fourth shooter missed. Neal made back-to-back saves, including a diving stop to deny Alaina Harden a winner, and FPC rallied to win 4-3 in seven rounds.

Neal was credited with 12 saves in regulation against the 'Cudas, and she made two more against Mainland in the quarterfinals.

Annabel Thistle, Seabreeze

Seabreeze rolled to its third straight Five Star title, outscoring its three opponents 12-1. Thistle led the offensive charge on the left wing, with a pair of multi-goal performances.

The junior had two goals apiece against Taylor and Flagler Palm Coast, and has now scored six times in her last four games overall. Olivia Chase also made a big impact on the attack, registering three goals and three assists in the tournament.

Kylie Watson, Seabreeze

The senior is the engine of the Sandcrabs' midfield, covering a ton of ground defensively and driving the team forward in transition. Watson has been on the field for all but 38 minutes of her team's last eight matches.

Watson had an assist against Taylor and one of the prettiest goals of the tournament to close out FPC, a curling shot low and inside the far right post. Three of Watson's five markers this year have come at the expense of the Bulldogs; she had a two-goal game in a 4-1 win back on Dec. 8.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school soccer: Top performers at Volusia-Flagler 5 Star tournament