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Z-Hills Girls Cruising Under 1st-Year Coach

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 19, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - The Mike Mira era began at Zephyrhills in a big way. In the Bulldogs' first girls soccer game under Mira, they defeated Land O' Lakes 1-0 on Nov. 3 on a goal by his daughter, Brandi.

According to Mira, it's Zephyrhills' first win against Land O' Lakes in 10 years. But the Bulldogs didn't stop there. They have jumped to a 5-0-1 start, scoring 22 goals while allowing only one.

It's the scoring margin that has been most impressive.

"There was some fine-tuning this team needed," said Mira, whose full-time job is owner-operator of Maine-Ly New England, a restaurant in Zephyrhills. "We allowed 60 goals last year. My goal this year is to only allow 15 goals. We're off to a pretty good start."

Mira uses soccer as a diversion from the restaurant.

"I told my wife that practice is from 2-4 p.m. - usually a down time at the restaurant," he said. "I'm going to be at the game anyway watching Brandi."

Mira said for as long as he could remember, Land O' Lakes had dominated the Bulldogs. But not this year.

"We beat them 1-0 and it wasn't a fluke," he said. "We played them straight up and outshot them."

GATORS PREPARE FOR PUMA: The Land O' Lakes boys team will participate in the Puma Challenge beginning Monday at the Clearwater Soccer Club (Countryside Complex).

Land O' Lakes will play in Pool B with Countryside, Pinellas Park and Winter Park. Pool A will consist of Boca Ciega, East Lake, Palm Harbor University and Seminole.

The Gators face Countryside on Monday at 8 p.m., Pinellas Park on Tuesday at noon and Class 6A region finalist Winter Park on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The top two teams in each pool advance to Wednesday's semifinals at 10 a.m. The finals are at 4 p.m.

INJURIES HIT RAMS: Two top players for Ridgewood's boys team are down with knee injuries. Senior Matt Pappas, an All-Sunshine Athletic Conference selection last season, tore his ACL while playing on his competitive club team. He had three goals and two assists in the Springstead preseason tournament.

Senior Mike Piemonte (All-SAC honorable mention and the Rams' leading scorer the past two years) has a possible torn meniscus. He injured it in Ridgewood's opener against Springstead. Despite the injury, he scored three goals and had two assists the following night against Zephyrhills.

Coach Ed McComiskey is down to three seniors and one junior among the starting 11.

OFF TO A GOOD START: Sunlake's boys are 2-0 for the first time in school history heading into tonight's Class 4A-District 8 game against Hernando. The Seahawks beat Academy at the Lakes 8-0 and Wiregrass Ranch 2-1. They also had preseason wins against The Villages (7-0) and Wesley Chapel (3-1).

And Coach Sam Koleduk is doing this with at least five freshmen in the starting lineup. Sophomore Jordan Landry leads the Seahawks with five goals, while goalkeeper Adrian Krupka has allowed only one goal in 140 minutes.

DATE CHANGE: Because Pasco is hosting a Class 3A region football game Friday, the boys soccer game between the Pirates and Sunlake has been moved to Jan. 5.

Coaches wishing to be included in the soccer notebook should e-mail Rick Harmon at tampabaystringer@gmail.com no later than Tuesday at noon.

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