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Martes' Goal Lifts Freedom Past Alonso

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By MATTHEW POSTINS, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 16, 2008

TAMPA - Alonso head coach Raymond DiPompo called it a "big-time goal."

That goal - scored by Freedom's Manny Martes - broke a tie between the Patriots and the Ravens in the 69th minute and lifted Freedom to a 3-2 boys soccer victory Tuesday night.

The loss was hard for Alonso (21-5-2) to swallow because the Ravens rallied from two goals down in the second half to tie the match. DiPompo sensed a familiar pattern, as he said most of the Ravens' matches with the Patriots (16-4) seem to end in a tie.

And then came Martes' game winner.

"That was a great goal," DiPompo said. "That was a great shot. Martes nailed it."

Senior forward Bobby Huertas - who helped on all three of Freedom's goals - fed a streaking Martes from the middle of the goal box. Martes tapped the ball to stop it and then burned it past Alonso goalkeeper Jordan Pelletz to the far post.

The Patriots needed the goal because the Ravens had owned the middle part of the match, including goals scored by Shomari Elliot and Adam Bonanno that tied the match.
Freedom coach Dennis Derflinger knew it was coming.

"I knew we were in trouble," Derflinger said. "Ray does a great job of adjusting at halftime, and his kids responded."
Alonso fell behind 2-0 in the first half, as Freedom's Taylor Nalls scored in the first minute and Trevor Kruk scored in the 14th minute.

It took the Ravens time to recover, as they were without their top two scorers - Julio Perez and Simon Gomez. Both were out injured.

"That was about 43 goals on our bench," DiPompo said.

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