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Bloomingdale Wins 5A-8 Title

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A Tribune staff report

Published: January 19, 2008

TAMPA - On Dec. 4, Bloomingdale earned a 1-0 win in a regular-season girls soccer match against Newsome. With more than two minutes left in the first half of that match, Nancy Davison struck the Bulls' winner from deep in the box.

Friday night, the top-seeded Wolves and third-seeded Bulls faced off and, with tough defense and another lone Davison goal, Bloomingdale topped Newsome 1-0 for the Class 5A-District 8 title. Bloomingdale will host Land O' Lakes on Thursday in the region quarterfinals, and Newsome will travel to River Ridge.

"Since we know all of their players from club, this game has become real emotional," Davison said. "They're like our new Durant."

In the 28th minute, Davison dribbled past defenders as the ball skipped toward the goal. Newsome goalkeeper Kendall Graham came out and dove for the ball, but it bounced away from her. Davison stayed with the ball and sent an easy roller into the net.

The Wolves outshot the Bulls 12-6 but did not finish on runs. Among the many chances the Wolves had in the second half was Kellie Fowke's one-on-one with Bulls keeper Christina Coca. She sent the shot hard and straight, but too high as it careened off of the crossbar.

Among the highlights for the Bulls defense was the play of Coca, who had seven saves. In the 63rd minute, Newsome's Kayli Kishel had a nice run down the line past the defenders and took a shot to the left of Coca, but the junior reacted quickly and smothered the shot.

"I saw her coming down the line," Coca said. "All season my team has done great for me, I think this was my chance to come through."

Jarrett Guthrie

Hillsborough Ends Plant's Unbeaten Season

TAMPA - Hillsborough girls soccer coach Dwight Wood admitted his team was slightly outplayed by Plant in the first half, but the Terriers changed their strategy and came away with a 1-0 victory in the Class 5A-District 10 soccer championship at Middleton. It was the Panthers' first loss of the season.

At halftime, Wood told his team to take advantage of the Panthers' back line, which had spent much of the first 40 minutes pushed up. The advice from Wood, who took over as the Terriers' coach in November, was on target.

After playing defensively for most of the first 76 minutes, with Plant (14-1-4) taking nearly twice as many shots on goal, Hillsborough senior forward Meagan Nelson slipped past Plant's back line along the right side just past midfield and fed the ball to Alexa Morse.

With four minutes left in the match, the freshman midfielder took the ball into Plant's goal box and tucked the ball into the lower back left corner of the net from about 8 yards out. It was her 20th goal of the season.

Wood said he knew the Terriers (9-6-1) could capitalize on the openings, but he knew he would need a little luck on his side to do it.

"It came down to a lucky break. This is what I said at halftime, just look for an opportunity and feed the ball forward. This was definitely an upset," Wood said.

Hillsborough will host the loser of today's 5A-9 championship Thursday, while Plant will travel to the 5A-9 champion.

Paul Catala

River Ridge Earns 3rd Straight Title

NEW PORT RICHEY - For the third consecutive year, River Ridge and Land O' Lakes faced off for the Class 5A-District 7 championship. For the third consecutive year, the Royal Knights were victorious, edging the Gators 1-0.

This was the third match this season between the teams, with River Ridge winning the two regular-season games, also by shutouts.

In the championship, the two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half. Both teams focused more on ball control and defensive position than on aggressive shotmaking.

"All of our matches against Land O' Lakes have been hard-fought, low-scoring matches," said River Ridge coach Skip Glover.

Playing on its home field, River Ridge's only goal was scored by freshman forward Jenny Karl in the 75th minute.

"Corinna Dyl had a corner kick near their goal and Kaleigh Patri screened their goalkeeper," Karl said.

The goal was the first game-winner for Karl this season.

Land O' Lakes coach Vicky King is no stranger to district finals play. This is her 16th consecutive finals match. Despite the loss, King was upbeat following the game.

"We started our season 2-7-2, so our team has come a long way. During the second half of the season, our seniors displayed leadership and our team came together," said King. The Gators started five freshmen.

Cliff Gill

Mitchell Earns 1st Class 6A District Title

NEW PORT RICHEY - Shelby Wright's 25-yard shot found net as Mitchell nipped Countryside 1-0 in the Class 6A-District 7 final at Mitchell.

The win earned the Mustangs (17-3-2) their first 6A district title. They will host Sarasota Riverview on Thursday in a region quarterfinal. Countryside (11-6-1) will travel to Sarasota, which downed Riverview 2-0.

Wright took a pass from Breana Pullara in the game's 53rd minute. Wright scored her 14th goal of the season, getting the ball past Countryside goalkeeper Cristina Brabson.

Defense dominated the contest. Mitchell had 12 shots in the first half, while Countryside had one shot on goal. In the second half, Mitchell had nine shots and Countryside two.

Mitchell gained revenge for a 1-0 Countryside victory at Mitchell on Nov. 27.

Larry Bugg

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