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River Ridge Bests Land O' Lakes Again For District Soccer Title

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A Tribune staff report

Published: January 21, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - For Land O' Lakes girls soccer coach Vicky King, having her squad in the district finals is nothing new. Her Lady Gators have been a district finalist for 16 consecutive years. For the third consecutive year, they have faced River Ridge. In the previous two matches, River Ridge prevailed. During the regular season, the Gators were shut out twice by the Royal Knights.

Going into Friday night's game, though, King was optimistic.

"We have a burning desire to win. I'm excited when I see that look on the players' faces," King said.

In the pregame huddle, captain Amanda Goble gave a Knute Rockne-like motivational speech, encouraging her teammates to "give it all you've got for 80 minutes."

The Gators, however, came up short, losing 1-0. During the first half, neither team was able to score. Both teams focused more on ball control and defensive position than on aggressive shot-making.

The only goal of the game was scored by freshman forward Jenny Karl midway through the second half.

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

The cross-kick goal was the first game-winner for Karl this season. Karl had scored 11 goals during the regular season.

River Ridge coach Skip Glover, winning his third consecutive district title, said after the game that he never underestimates Land O' Lakes.

"This was a typical hard-fought, low-scoring game between two excellent teams. We were fortunate to keep possession for much of the game and move the ball around a lot," Glover said.

It was thought Land O' Lakes would double-team senior forward Deana Rossi, the Royal Knights' leading scorer. Instead, the Gators had just one defender shadow Rossi throughout the game. As a result, Rossi was able to use her ball-handling and passing skills to set up her teammates.

Outstanding defense and goalkeeping by the Gators kept them within striking distance.

Fortunately for the Royal Knights, their defense was just as stingy, allowing only six shots on goal for the game. Co-captain Brittany Hahn, the Royal Knights' goalkeeper, played aggressively and covered a lot of field to keep the Lady Gators from scoring.

Despite the loss, King was upbeat following the game.

"We started or 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," King said.

On Thursday, Land O' Lakes will travel to play Bloomingdale and River Ridge will host Newsome. Last year, River Ridge suffered its first loss of the season to Bloomingdale 5-1 and Land O' Lakes dropped a 3-0 decision to Newsome.

Cliff Gill

Zullo's Kick Gives Cobras Regional Home Game

BROOKSVILLE - The ball placed carefully between the 6- and 18-yard boxes, Hudson junior Lindsay Zullo took a few steps back, paused for a brief moment and prepared for the most important kick of her life.

Two words were going through her mind.

"District champions," she kept thinking to herself, over and over.

With a short trot to the ball and a snap of her right leg, Zullo blasted the penalty kick past Springstead goalkeeper Jennifer Defrancesco to the lower left corner of the net, then found herself at the bottom of a pile of Cobras who jumped on top of her in celebration.

The kick was for the Class 4A-District 8 championship, revenge against the Eagles (who beat Hudson 3-2 in overtime for the title last year) and a home playoff game against Eustis in the regional quarterfinals this week.

"I don't think I can even describe it," Zullo said of the moment. "I think every girl has that dream, like making the game-winning shot in basketball or, I don't know. Everybody has that."

Hudson (20-3-2) and Springstead played 260 scoreless minutes of soccer against each other season - three 0-0 ties - until Friday's 100 minutes were not enough to decide the outcome.

Both teams had chances to score in regulation. After scoring in 14 seconds during Thursday's semifinal against Zephyrhills, Hudson nearly scored in 38 seconds Friday. Alicia Schuerig spun and struck an indefensible shot from outside the 18-yard box with her left leg. Defrancesco watched helplessly as the ball arced high over her head and towards the net, but it hit the crossbar flush and Defrancesco was able to cover it up.

Later in the first half, Springstead had its best scoring chance, a breakaway by Ashley Walker down the center of the field. She fired high at Jessie Imbimbo, who was able to tip the ball over the crossbar. A header off the ensuing corner kick also just missed.

There were few good scoring chances for either team in the second half and overtime, setting the stage for a dramatic penalty kick tiebreaker. Imbimbo was at an immediate disadvantage when Hudson's first PK was stopped, but she came right back to stop Springstead's first two PKs.

"After she saved that, it only made me more determined," Imbimbo said. "Basically I think it's all about mental confidence, and what you have set in your mind. You go into penalty kicks confident. ... And my girls, I have a whole team supporting me no matter what, and that always helps when you have a good team behind you."

Michelle Lang and Melissa Wysong had the Cobras' other successful PKs, which were enough to keep the Cobras away from Orlando Bishop Moore, which beat Hudson 5-0 in the regional quarterfinals last year en route to the state title.

Hudson coach Christine Rizzieri said "absolutely" it was an advantage not to have to face Bishop Moore again in the opening round.

"I couldn't think of a better ending," Imbimbo said.

Bart O'Connell

Mitchell Wins 1st 6A District Title

TRINITY - Shelby Wright wasn't really looking to take a shot Friday night.

The sophomore forward wanted to pass the ball to Marissa Russo, the team's leading scorer with 26 goals.

There was only one problem.

Russo fell down.

So, Wright put her left foot into action and she had to like the results.

"Breana Pullara had the ball and she passed the ball to me," Wright said. "I had a touch. I looked for Russo but she slipped and fell so I decided to take the shot with my left foot. It's winning the district crazy. It's such a good feeling knowing that this is one of the hardest districts. It's a big accomplishment for our team. We are really excited."

Wright's 25-yard shot found the net as Mitchell nipped Countryside 1-0 Friday night in the finals of the Class 6A-District 7 girls soccer tournament at Mustang Stadium.

The Mustangs' triumph gave them their first Class 6A district title. They will host Sarasota Riverview Thursday at 7 p.m. in a regional playoff. Countryside (11-6-1) will travel to Sarasota on Thursday.

Wright scored 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 (17-3-2) had 12 shots in the first half while Countryside had only one shot on goal. In the second half, Mitchell had nine shots and Countryside had just two.

Mitchell gained revenge for a 1-0 Countryside victory at Mitchell on Nov. 27. Mitchell now has 14 shutouts for the season.

Mitchell has been in Class 6A for three years but won three straight district titles while in Class 5A.

"I think we dominated most of the game," Mitchell coach Karl Kukec said. "They the Cougars couldn't score. It took the 53rd minute for us to score. We were controlling the ball. We were getting good penetration but we had a hard time scoring. I'm just happy that it happened. It's definitely great to be back. It's the first time in 6A. Obviously, we are happy. I have a very solid defense.

"I think defense was definitely the key. Our defense steps up and gives the offense the chance to score one goal. It is a great achievement. The offense wins games and the defense wins championships. That's where we are at."

Larry Bugg

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