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Fisher, Leathers lift Eagles past upset-minded NCT, 2-1

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By MARTY MILLER, Hernando Today correspondent

Published: November 20, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - In prep sports more than anywhere else, there is a huge difference between how teams play in the beginning of the season than at the end.

With the season's blending into one another, because of the short amount of time to get ready in the preseason and the fact that a team does not have many veteran players, coaches are quick to say that a team will look completely different from the start of the season to the end.

That was pretty much the case with both the Springstead and Nature Coast Technical soccer teams Wednesday night.

Goals by Keenan Fisher and Nathan Leathers along with some important late saves by goalie Kyle Beach gave the Eagles a 2-1 win over NCT.

"We have a lot of ninth and tenth graders in the park right now and they're not used to the high school level yet," said Springstead Head Coach Sal Calabrese after the win. "They've all played club ball, but they're not used to the physical type of play and the quickness on the high school level. They are more used to a possession game and with a lot more skilled players, not the long-ball game you see in high school. It's like I said, come see me in a year or two and see how we are."

The Eagles, who improved to 2-1-1 overall, led 1-0 after the first half.

In the 20th minute, Chris Sarabalis had a throw-in from the right side to Zach Magrini. He then crossed the ball to the far post where Fisher slid in and connected with the ball to beat NCT sophomore goalie Nick Allegra in the upper left corner of the net for a goal.

In the final minute of the half, Fisher missed a chance when he bounced a shot off the left goal post.

"We should have buried a couple more goals in the first half," said Calabrese. "But that's been our problem, we're creating opportunities and we should be getting more as the year goes by, but we should have had more in the first half tonight."

But three minutes into the second half, the Sharks' Jean-Pierre Salazar picked up a ball 25 yards from the goal and beat Beach in the lower right corner for a goal to tie the score at 1-all.

Then in the 55th minute, a free kick just outside the Sharks' penalty box gave the Eagles another chance for a goal. Leathers took the shot and for a moment the officials believed a NCT defender had committed a hand-ball violation on a ball that went into the net.

After the two referees consulted with each other, it was ruled a goal and the Eagles led 2-1.

During the last four minutes of the match, Springstead missed a couple of scoring chances and in the 78th minute, Beach made a key save on a shot by Salazar from close range that would have tied the score.

With the loss, NCT remained winless at 0-4-0, but first-year coach Patrick O'Grady said his team is still adjusting to things.

"I felt our boys played well in the second half," O'Grady said. "In fact, I think we dominated play in their half of the field. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't get one more goal."

O'Grady also said he believes his team will be much better as the season goes along.

"Yes, it will be a different ballgame. We'll be more comfortable with our formation," he added. "This is my first year coaching here and we're using a different formation than they did last year. We only have two seniors starting and I think they are really developing into a team. I think they're more mature."

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