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Trio Propels Bulldogs

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By CHRIS ERRINGTON, Tribune correspondents

Published: December 4, 2007

Thanks to three of the state's most impressive players so far this season, Zephyrhills' unorthodox schedule just might be manageable.

Then again, the Bulldogs are beginning to get used to this.

Zephyrhills (7-5-0, 3-3-0 Class 4A-District 8) played six of its first seven games at home and is in the middle of ending the regular season playing 10 of its final 14 games away.

Junior Brandi Mira is currently tied for fourth in the state with 19 goals, while teammate Desiree Nieves leads the state with 15 assists to go along with an impressive 13 goals. The Bulldogs will need even more from the duo, along with Laurren McLeod (8 goals, 6 assists) if they are going to make a run at a district title.

Coach Danielle Castro, noting a similarly unbalanced schedule last season, knows her team is capable of making a move, despite playing so many games away from home. She also knows where to keep the Bulldogs' focus.

"I told the kids that the district games are the ones that matter most," Castro said. "When we got them at home to start the season, we knew we had to make a good first impression, because we're going to face them again later.

"We get a break for Christmas and then we come back, so we at least have that time to rest our kids."

CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT: One look at Land O' Lakes' season could make those with motion sickness queasy.

Thanks to several key injuries, the Gators have had difficulty producing any consistency with their line-up and subsequently, their results.

So far, Land O' Lakes (3-4-1, 1-2-1 5A-7) has a season that looks like this: Loss, win, loss, win, loss, tie, loss, win, as no two consecutive games have produced the same result. There have been no winning streaks and, conversely, no losing streaks, but that all may change soon.

The Gators and coach Vicky King expect the return of key injured players, and following a three-game home streak this week that began last night with a visit from Hudson, Land O' Lakes plays seven consecutive road games, where they've proven to be no pushover. This season, the Gators are 2-0-1 away from home.

"We're still working on getting our whole team back together," King said. "I can't say the lineup's been the same two games in a row. Sometimes that makes things more difficult on our girls, because there's no chance to get any continuity.

"Just as far as games, this could be a big turning point. It doesn't matter where you play. We have a lot of fans that follow us, so we're not an underdog since we're away."

MAKING THEIR MOVE: Don't look now, but one of the county's hottest teams is making a push for a postseason berth.

Gulf, thanks to rejuvenated bench play and an eye-opening tournament in Panama City, had won four straight and eight of 11 prior to last Friday's 1-1 tie with visiting Springstead.

The Buccaneers (8-5-1, 2-2-1 4A-8), who traveled to Sunlake last night and begin a three-game home stand against Ridgewood on Thursday, are outscoring their opponents by a 2-1 margin thanks to more physical play.

"The kids are just starting to click," Gulf coach Shari Schau said. "When we went to the Panama City tournament, the kids bonded well and we played some different teams that played physical soccer. We thought it was physical in Pasco County, but it wasn't even close to what we saw at the tournament.

"That's been a key for us and so have our replacement players. We've learned to adjust our game to physical play against us and now we have 14 or 15 kids that could be starting for us."

Correspondent Chris Errington can be reached at cerrington@pop.tampatrib.com.

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