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BOYS SOCCER: Gators Improve Conference Title Chances

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 9, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Land O' Lakes moved a step closer to winning the Sunshine Athletic Conference title as the Gators blanked Hudson 3-0 Monday night.

Dominic Cutrofello scored two goals and Felix Soto added a goal and an assist as the Gators ran its SAC record to 6-0 (9-1-1 overall) with remaining conference games with Mitchell (2-0 in SAC), Sunlake (1-3), Zephyrhills (0-7) and Gulf (4-0-2).

Like most of Land O' Lakes' games, the Gators dominated play – outshooting Hudson (6-2-1, 4-2-1 SAC) 26-7. Despite outshooting the Cobras 16-4 in the first half, Gators coach Mark Pearson actually thought they had more scoring chances in the second half.

"I thought we had more opportunities in the second half than the first half," Pearson said. "We had more possessions in the first half. We passed the ball a little bit better in the first half. We had 26 shots on goal and only gave up 7."

Land O' Lakes defenders kept pressure on Hudson all night, not allowing them to get any consistent offensive attacks.

"We had a solid performance from Frank Villar in the back that helped settle us down," Pearson said. "And John Gorman and Chris Jenkins … those guys in the back really did a solid job marking up. People like Scotty Combs [Hudson's leading goal scorer], who scores lots of goals, didn't really have a good look at the goal tonight. That really helps us."

Combs, who has scored 16 goals, was held to only three shots and all of those came during a four-shot barrage in the 25th minute that Land O' Lakes goalkeeper Alex Spock turned away.

Cutrofello, who now has 19 goals, start the scoring in the 18th minute on a perfect pass from Felix Soto. In the 52nd minute, Soto took a pass from Justin Lyles and sent the ball past Hudson keeper Zack Tonnello. But the final goal – by Cutrofello – was one for the highlight reel.

Cutrofello took a pass from Will Frandsen and from 25 yards out, wheeled and sent a bending shot into the upper corner of the net.

"It was a tremendous strike from probably 20-25 yards out," Pearson said. "He had another one that the keeper got a hand on and it hit off the crossbar. His shot was on all night. I thought it was coming all night. He had been taking shots from 20 yards out and was just missing. That one was a beautiful goal."

Although Hudson didn't get a lot of scopring chances, Coach Paul Vescio felt his team diod get some quality ones.

"We had some good quality opportunities," he said. "I thought, especially in the second half, we created some opportunities. We were changing the formations on the fly just to try to get something working tonight. In a big game, that's how it works."

Luckly, this loss doesn't hurt the Cobras in the very competitive Class 4A-District 8. Hudson is currently in second place (5-1-1) behind Gulf (6-0-2). The Cobras lost to Gulf 3-2 in the second game of the season and will travel to the Buccaneers on Friday.

"We've had some trouble hitting the net but we were on a 5-game winning streak," Vescio said. "The boys were pretty geared up for this game. After that first goal, I saw some hesitation. [Land O' Lakes] is a really good team. But it's a conference game, not a district game."

Land O' Lakes returns to Class 5A-District 7 action when it hosts Wesley Chapel on Wednesday and River Ridge on Friday. The Gators are 3-0 in district play.

Hudson 0 0-0
Land O' Lakes 1 2-3

Goals-Cutrofello 2, Soto. Assists-Soto, Lyles, Frandgen. Shots on goal-H 7, LOL 26. Saves-Tonnello (H) 8; Spock (LOL) 4. Records-H 6-2-1, LOL 9-1-1.

Correspondent Rick Harmon can be reached at tampabaystringer@gmail.com

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