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Area Is Producing Top Talent

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By BILL WARD

wward@tampatrib.com

Published: December 18, 2008

Local youth and high school soccer coaches have known for years that the Tampa Bay area is loaded with talent. Last weekend, the NCAA Division I Men's Final Four field provided all the proof they needed.

On three of the four squads - North Carolina, Maryland and St. John's - you could find at least one player from either Hillsborough or Pinellas counties. The fourth team, Wake Forest, had a senior midfielder from Orlando.

North Carolina, which edged the Demon Deacons 1-0 in the semifinals, boasts Parade All-America forward Eddie Ababio of Tampa, a product of Gaither High, Hillsborough County United and the U.S. under-17 residency program in Bradenton. The Tar Heels also have forward Brian Shriver, who played for Clearwater High, Strictly Soccer of St. Petersburg and the Kendall Soccer Coalition in South Florida.

In fact, Shriver scored the lone goal of that semifinal match on a first-half header from 6 yards out.

Maryland, which knocked off St. John's 1-0 in double overtime of the other semifinal, has Parade All-America forward Jeremy Hall, a junior who played for HC United and the U.S. residency team, and St. Petersburg goalkeeper Zac MacMath, a freshman who also made the Parade All-America roster and played for Strictly Soccer and the U.S. residency squad.

St. John's boasted senior midfielder Ben Mallue, who played for St. Petersburg High.

In the championship match, MacMath had two saves and a clean sheet to help the Terrapins beat North Carolina 1-0. Hall played a part in Graham Zusi's lone goal when his 67th-minte shot rebounded to Zusi, who knocked it in from 18 yards. MacMath has 19 consecutive victories in goal.

The local club and high school system is producing dozens of players for college teams across the country. The University of South Florida, which reached the Elite Eight, also has benefited, with the Bulls' current roster containing Countryside's Jeff Attinella, Jesuit's Ali Van Gurp, Gaither's Fernando Gonzalez, Wharton's Ogi Perucica and Brad Sienkiewicz of Tampa Prep.

"Year to year, the talent level around here is either good or very good," HC United director of coaching Kelvin Jones said. "And with a little luck, good grades and hard work, these kids know they can go places."

And it goes beyond college. Current Major League Soccer players include Blake Wagner (Wharton, HC United) and Anthony Wallace (Lakewood, Brandon FC, HC United) of FC Dallas and Bobby Boswell (Plant) of the Houston Dynamo.

BUCS ON A TEAR. Heading into tonight's match against River Ridge, Berkeley Prep's boys are soaring. The Buccaneers are 9-0-0 and have outscored opponents 49-3. Goalkeeper Leland Newhaller has four clean sheets, junior forward T.J. Roehn has a team-high nine goals, and senior midfielder Joey Rosati leads the team in assists with 13.

HICKINBOTHAM MILESTONE. Cambridge Christian School's 4-0 boys victory against Keswick Christian represented the 200th victory at the school by Coach Kevin Hickinbotham. He is in his 17th season at Cambridge and has a record of 200-146-29. He also coached two seasons at Bayshore Christian. Hickinbotham's career mark is 217-163-33.

SARASOTA CLASSIC: The Sarasota Sailor Holiday Classic tournament Friday and Saturday will have a lot of Tampa-area talent, as five Hillsborough county girls teams will compete in the annual tournament. The eight-team Elite division tournament will be split into two brackets with the first containing Plant, Bloomingdale, St. Petersburg Catholic and Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, while the second bracket will have Tampa Prep, Wharton, Newsome and Winter Haven.

The two-day tournament will begin Friday at 2 p.m. with some interesting matchups.

Newsome begins the tournament against Winter Haven, a team Wolves coach Kelly Townsend said will be a great test. The Blue Devils were a district runner-up to Lakeland's George Jenkins, last season's Class 5A state champion.

"It's going be a good one," Townsend said. "There are no guarantees in this tournament, and if we take two out of three I'll be very happy."

Saturday's matches might prove to be the most exciting, however, as Newsome takes on defending 2A state champion Tampa Prep and Plant faces Bloomingdale in a rematch from earlier in the season. On Nov. 10, the Bulls handed Plant its only loss of the season with a 3-2 victory.

Each team will face the other three in its bracket, with a final match between the top team from each bracket Saturday at 3 p.m.

Last season, Tampa Prep defeated Cardinal Gibbons 3-0 in the final. Both teams are in this season's tournament.

Bill Ward, Jarrett Guthrie

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