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Tourney Gets New Name

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By MATTHEW POSTINS, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 19, 2007

The name of the tournament has changed, but not the level of play expected when some of the area's best teams return from the holiday break to play in one of the area's top annual tournaments.

The 14th annual Soccer Field Invitational Tournament (formerly the Admiral Tournament) will be at Ed Radice Sports Complex Jan. 2-5 and will feature the Tribune's Top 2 boys teams in the Elite bracket, along with several top programs from around the state.

The tournament is sponsored by Soccer Field, Inc., which prompted the name change.

No. 1 Tampa Prep will play in Pool 1 against St. Petersburg, American Heritage and Lakewood Ranch. No. 2 Jesuit will play in Pool 4 against MCC, Edgewater and Mariner.

Perhaps these two powerhouse teams - who are not scheduled to play each other in the regular season - could meet in bracket play that Saturday.

"Mariner is going to be the toughest team in our pool," Jesuit goalkeeper Max Renaldo said. "They lost to George Jenkins, a team we beat at a Thanksgiving tournament. It should be a good game between us."

The Elite bracket also includes Sickles and Tampa Catholic in Pool 2 with Lake Mary and Fernandia Beach, and Pasco in Pool 4 with Winter Springs, Melbourne and Niceville.

Two other Tribune Top 5 teams will play in the Premier bracket. No. 4 Freedom is in Pool 2 with River Ridge, Ponte Vedra Nease and Manatee. Coach Dennis Derflinger believes his Patriots have a good chance of emerging from pool play with a good seed.

"A lot will depend on how healthy we are after the guys come back from their club tournaments," Derflinger said. "If they remain healthy, I expect us to be very competitive in pool play."

No. 5 Alonso will play in Pool 1 with Seminole, Jacksonville Bolles and Merritt Island.

Gaither, a team was in the Tribune's Top 5 just a couple of weeks ago, is in Pool 3 against Clearwater Central Catholic, Tallahassee Lincoln and Orlando Bishop Moore. Berkeley Prep anchors Pool 4, which features Land O'Lakes, Sarasota and Gulf Breeze.

DISTRICT BOYS SEEDS: Most of the top seeds for next month's district tournaments are set.

Plant City (6A-8), Jesuit (5A-10) and Tampa Prep (2A-10) all clinched No. 1 seeds outright.

Alonso (6A-7) and Bloomingdale (5A-8) both ended up tied for the top spot in their respective districts, but won the No. 1 seed based on a head-to-head tiebreaker.

Berkeley Prep (3A-9) appears to have the inside track for the No. 1 seed but must play St. Petersburg Catholic on Jan. 7 to sew up the seed.

PANTHERS LOSE PAIR: Plant's defense has yet to allow an opponent to score this season, due primarily to the play of a strong defense. However, in last Tuesday's 4-0 win against Leto, that defense took a big blow with the loss of junior right fullback Megan Fate. Fate suffered a facture in her left leg that will keep her out for at least one month, according to Coach Stephen McGill.

Plant suffered another loss, this time on offense, as forward Amanda Hendry went down in practice Wednesday also with a leg injury. McGill said Hendry's injury came during a non-contact drill. McGill also said he had not been informed of the severity of the injury, but didn't expect to have Hendry in the lineup for at least a month.

Plant will participate in the Sarasota Holiday Classic Nov. 21-22, however McGill said the team may have only 13 players available with the injuries and club tournaments.

WHAT ABOUT D? A lot is being said about the strength of Tampa Prep strikers Chelsea Klotz (37 goals) and Paige Goodwin (16 goals), but not much is being mentioned about the Terrapins' defense. It's time to correct that.

The defense has allowed only five goals this season and is loaded with a number of young players. Freshmen defenders Caroline Cheek, Isabel Dalence and Lauren Knoke are having a tremendous impact, according to Terrapins' coach Pam Smith.

All three have club experience, with Cheek having two goals on the season and Dalence filling the role of sweeper for the team.

Correspondent Jarrett Guthrie contributed to this report.

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