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Rams, Bulldogs Play Well

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: December 31, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - With big club tournaments, family obligations and injuries keeping many of Pasco County's top soccer players away from their prep teams this holiday season, last week's Ridgewood Winter Tournament presented many challenges.

Not only was it tough for the host Rams and Zephyrhills to score victories, it also was difficult for the two squads to field a full team for all three games.
Ridgewood (7-10-3), with only two players on its bench Friday, still managed to post a 1-0-2 record, tying Pinellas Park and Leto in regulation but losing both in overtime. Zephyrhills had an overtime win against Springstead and lost to Leto and Newsome, the latter coming with only 12 players.

On Wednesday, the Rams beat Inverness Citrus 5-2, with two goals from Alen Sisic and one each from Piemonte, Matt Pappas and Steve Landreth.

"I was satisfied that we got through the first round in the winners bracket," Rams coach and tournament host Ed McComiskey said. "I would've liked to have been in the final, but I'm happy with what we got out of it."
Ridgewood was without defenders Josh Gray and T.J. Haab, and midfielders Chris Ariza, Mike Blazer and Sergio Velasquez for all three games due to injury, work or club commitments. Piemonte, the Rams' leading scorer, missed the final game.

In Thursday's match against the Patriots, Pappas gave Ridgewood a 1-0 lead in the second half. But Pinellas Park tied the game 15 minutes later, and after regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, the score was still tied and penalty kicks decided who would advance to the tournament final.

Pinellas Park won the shootout 4-1, and advanced to play Alonso, one of Hillsborough County's best teams. The Patriots lost 4-1 on Friday night to finish runner-up, but many of the Rams felt they should've moved on and faced the Ravens, whom they lost to by one goal in last year's Ridgewood Tournament.

"We were overconfident going into that game," McComiskey said. "They gave us a game, and we kind of sat back a little bit. You learn from every game."

In Friday's third-place game against Leto, freshman Ray Haas scored the Rams' lone goal, fighting past a defender in the box to offset an early goal by the Falcons. Again, Ridgewood's defense fought off several scoring chances by the opposition to force overtime, and Leto's Tommy Nomany had the game-winner with two minutes left in OT.

Zephyrhills' (3-9-5) win against Springstead on penalty kicks was the highlight of the week for Coach Wade Cutler. Goalkeeper Rafael Rodriguez saved three penalty kick attempts by the Eagles to earn the victory.

"That win made it worth coming to the tournament," Cutler said. "I think the main thing we got out of this is experience. You can't practice at this kind of speed and intensity. It was a good thing for us to do during the vacation."

All-Tournament team selections from Pasco teams included Sisic, Pappas and Piemonte from Ridgewood, and midfielder Kris Fregoso and defender Darryl Gibson from Zephyrhills. The Offensive Most Valuable Player was Alonso's Julio Perez, and the Defensive MVP was Devin Perkins of Pinellas Park.

"I was pleased with the tournament. Good teams came," McComiskey said. "My goal every year is to get teams that have never played each other. I think for the most part we accomplished that."

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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