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Land O' Lakes Ignoring Hype

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By BART O'CONNELL, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 20, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - A national ranking, prestigious tournament title and undefeated district record are great accomplishments for the Land O' Lakes boys soccer team.

But they don't mean much if the Gators have an off night and are upset in the Class 5A-District 7 tournament.

Therein lies the challenge for Coach Mark Pearson and his players - ignoring the hype and continuing the success.

"If we slip up in the next game," Pearson said, "the first 25 games don't count."

But it's hard to envision Land O' Lakes or Pasco County's other top seeds - Pasco (4A-8) and Bishop McLaughlin (2A-9) - making such a mistake. The teams combined to go 29-0-1 in district play this season.

The most farfetched scenario seems to be a Land O' Lakes loss. The Gators (23-1-1) won the Sunshine Athletic Conference title with a 10-0 record, have outscored opponents 100-12 and posted five consecutive shutouts.

The Gators won their district last year with a young team that lacked a natural goal scorer. But this season two have developed - midfielder Dominic Cutrofello (28 goals, 19 assists) and forward Elliot Leniton (21 goals, 14 assists).

"I thought Dominic would be more of a playmaker than a goal scorer, but he ended up doing both," Pearson said. "I knew Elliot had it in him, and he would have scored 10 more goals if he hadn't missed eight or nine games with an injury."

Land O' Lakes also has depth, so much so that Pearson thinks any of his four goalkeepers (two on junior varsity) could be the starter on any other Pasco County varsity team. The battles for playing time in practice often result in scrimmages that are more spirited and competitive than the games.

Such luxuries are not as readily available to Pasco and Bishop McLaughlin, but both squads dominated their districts.

The Pirates (18-4-2) have been preoccupied with keeping players healthy entering the tournament. Speedster David Cano is questionable with a groin injury, but Pasco's demanding schedule, which often includes three games a week, has made it difficult for Coach Barry Grayling to schedule practices and keep his team focused.

Seniors Joe Montelongo (41 goals) and Alex Hollander (23 goals) remain the driving force behind the Pirates' offense. As for the entire team, Grayling is hoping the playoffs spark a new attitude.

"Everyone's out for us," Grayling said of being the top seed. "The playoffs bring out different things in different players. Usually it kind of perks people up."

For Bishop McLaughlin (5-5-6), a demanding non-district schedule has revealed some things to work on for Coach John Mayer, namely offense. But after a 1-0 loss to Calvary Christian, a potential regional playoff opponent from 2A-10, Mayer is satisfied that improvements are being made.

"We've played some very good teams. I want to be careful that when I look at things, I don't see this or that as a problem," Mayer said. "We've played some very good teams, solid offensively and defensively. So one thing we've made sure of is our defense is under control. We're going to continue to work with our offense."

Goalkeeper and striker Diego Pestana has been back behind the net since an illness for backup keeper Chris Kasprow, but he scored three goals in the Hurricanes' last victory, Dec. 21 against 2A-9 No. 2 seed Hernando Christian.

Mayer hasn't decided where Pestana will be for the tournament, but offensively, the Hurricanes will be counting on senior Matt Gronau (17 goals) and midfielder James McCarragher (five goals, six assists).

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