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Mustangs Enjoying Return To Regionals

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A Tribune staff report

Published: January 26, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - With each postseason victory comes a new experience for most of the Mitchell girls soccer team and a friendly reminder of what used to be for Coach Karl Kukec.

Maybe that's why facing Countryside in the Class 6A semifinals is apropos.

Kukec and the Mustangs reached the regional playoffs from 2003 to 2005, reaching the region final in 2005, but when the program was moved up from 5A to 6A in 2006, the competition became more difficult. In its first two seasons, Mitchell did not reach the District 7 championship game and, in turn, the automatic bid to regionals it provides.

"This district is such a 'district of death,'" Kukec said following his team's convincing 5-1 Class 6A quarterfinal victory over visiting Sarasota Riverview on Thursday. "It seems like anyone who comes out of it is going to the region finals. That's how much talent the teams have."

Thanks to both the Mustangs and Countryside winning, Kukec will be proven correct. The winner of Tuesday's game earns a berth in the Class 6A-Region 2 championship. What's not so certain, however, is which team's season will end with its next game.

Since moving to Class 6A, Mitchell (20-3-2) and Countryside have formed a solid rivalry, based on outstanding talent and close matches. This season has been no exception.

The Cougars earned a 1-0 victory on Nov. 27, before Mitchell returned the favor in the district championship match. Now, for the third time this season and second in 11 days, the two will meet again at Mitchell. This time, however, a lot more is at stake.

"We've had very close games with them. Both were anybody's game," Kukec said. "Now, the biggest part for us is to go out on our field with confidence every time we play. We need to play our game."

Playing their game means a healthy dose of Morgan Shellenberger, Marisa Russo and Shelby Wright up front and stellar play from goalkeeper Laura Seletos. Russo scored twice, Shellenberger added a goal and Wright had four assists in the quarterfinal victory, while Seletos has allowed just one goal this postseason. The combination is difficult to stop.

"We have the skills to play at the highest level," Kukec said. "What's very good is that it's not one specific player who's making the plays. I have a few of them that can all take over a game. That's a great situation to have."

Chris Errington

River Ridge Coach Proud Of His Team After Close Loss
NEW PORT RICHEY - When Newsome coach Kelly Townsend was asked if her heart was still in her throat following her team's 1-0 victory against River Ridge in the Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinals, she couldn't hide the truth.

"Yeah, a little bit," she said with a laugh.

She wasn't in much of a mood to crack a smile minutes earlier, when River Ridge forward Mikaela Morolla scored what appeared to be the tying goal in the final two minutes of the contest.

A short time later, officials stopped play and called the goal off, saying Morolla pushed off a defender to create space.

River Ridge coach Skip Glover protested the call immediately, running up the sideline and shouting to the officials, "I want an explanation."

As much as Glover didn't want to accept that his team's season had come to an emotional end, he praised his group for its play.

"I'll just tell them there's no need to hang your head after a match like that. No need whatsoever, and if I catch them doing it, they're in trouble," Glover said. "That's unacceptable. To lose a match like that, that's a good team, there's no shame, and we didn't lose. We played a great game ... they didn't leave anything behind, so there's nothing to be ashamed of in a match like that."

Highlighting his sentiment was the fact that River Ridge (17-2-2), which won its third consecutive district title, limited Newsome (15-2) to two shots on goal in the second half compared to five in the first half.

"They never let up," Townsend said of River Ridge. "They came to play. They played the whole 80 minutes. We played about 40 minutes of that game. That last goal proved it. They wanted it. We were just struggling to hold on."

Eddie Daniels

King Sees Bright Future For Young Gators Squad

VALRICO - If someone had asked Land O' Lakes coach Vicky King about her team's chances of making the playoffs at the beginning of the season, she probably would have given a skeptical answer that would have made even former NFL coach Jim Mora crack a smile.

But under their veteran coach's guidance, the Gators overcame early mistakes characteristic of a young team to advance all the way to Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinals on Thursday night before falling to Bloomingdale, 2-0.

"About the last five games of the season the team finally came together and started playing very well," King said. "This team strove to achieve as much as any other team that I've had here."

Unfortunately for the Gators, they had the daunting task of facing a Bloomingdale defense in the quarterfinal that yields very few scoring chances.

After what seemed like an eternity without a goal, Land O' Lakes finally succumbed to a Bloomingdale strike midway through the second half.

The Bulls' second came on a Gators' own-goal, sealing the game.

"I really thought we could beat them," King said. "I thought Thursday night was anybody's game.

"It's disappointing whenever you lose, but I'm proud of them."

According to King, the Gators had an odd combination of seniors and freshmen starting this year. The inexperience of the team showed early, but as the season progressed, King said the freshmen stepped up.

Although the Gators came up short on Thursday night, King believes her young squad will make some noise in the years to come.

"This is a greatly improved team," King said. "We have a strong freshman class that I believe will carry on our tradition at Land O' Lakes."

Jeffrey Jones

Hudson Takes Step Forward Despite Loss To Eustis

HUDSON - The Hudson Cobras' progression has been evident the past few seasons, and despite the 4-3 loss to Eustis in the Class 4A-Region 2 quarterfinals, they still viewed the game as a step forward.

"I can't take anything from my girls," Hudson coach Christine Rizzieri said. "They played hard. They knew we were going to play against a fast team. They got it maybe in a couple positions around us. We made the adjustments we talked about at halftime. They did that well. It just didn't fall our way."

Hudson was looking to get the ball to Lindsay Zullo and Michelle Lang - both of whom had strong games, including on a goal in which they combined efforts - more in the second half and play even faster than they had been in the first half.

Hudson sophomore goalkeeper Jessie Imbimbo was kept busy all night, making 21 saves.

"We did go after the ball in the second half down in the box," Eustis coach Wayne Lockett said. "I think a couple times some balls were getting away from them but they worked really hard to get them in and I think that was the turning point for us and we didn't give up on any shots."

District runners-up last season and district champions this season, the Cobras took Eustis by surprise.

"To be honest with you, when we came over I did not expect this team to be as fast and as strong as they were," Lockett said. "They are a very good team. I will hand it to them. They were ready to play and they just really played an awesome game. They never gave up. They always came back on us and they did a great job."

Hudson has plenty to look forward to next season, because the Cobras will be able to build on what they have done the past two seasons.

"We lose one senior," Rizzieri said. "So next year we're hoping to win this game."

Cristina Ledra

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