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Boys Soccer: Early Goal Keys Durant's Win

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 6, 2009

PLANT CITY - Durant scored a big goal early and another very late. In between, the Cougars' senior-laden defense secured a victory.

Leo Mesquita and Billy Fanning got the goals and Freeman Bass led the defense as the Cougars defeated Gaither 2-0 in a Class 6A regional quarterfinal boys soccer match Thursday night.

"There are no more easy games," Durant coach Jamin Hollingsworth said. "It was important for us to score early. I'd like to see us take more of our chances, but it was a well-played game."

Durant (24-2), who added to their school record for wins in a season, took the lead in the 12th minute as Mesquita capitalized on a penalty kick after Bass was taken down in the penalty area.

It remained 1-0 for more than an hour as defenders Bass, Jarrett Williams, Micah Garcia and Tommy McCandless, along with goalie Connor Bass, made few mistakes. Freshman midfielder Jacob Brumbeloe also came back to make two key defensive plays.

"It's always tough when you're only up 1-0," Freeman Bass said. "You just have to grind it out."

Gaither (9-10-2), which started the season 0-5-2, pushed more players forward and put more pressure on in the second half. But Andres Plata set up Fanning with just over two minutes left to seal it.

"Coming in, we knew we would have to outwork them to have some success," Gaither coach Eric Sims said. "I think we did for the majority of the game. Giving up a penalty early is tough to bounce back from, but we did and had some chances."

Mark Pukalo

Vazquez Leads Mitchell Victory

TRINITY - David Vasquez scored two second-half goals Tuesday night as Mitchell advanced to the Class 6A-Region 2 semifinals with a dominating 3-0 victory against East Bay.

Mitchell (15-2) held a wide territorial advantage from the start and nearly scored five minutes in when Alex Wegener misfired from in front off a rebound.

After a scoreless first half, Vasquez put the Mustangs ahead 1-0 at the 12-minute mark off a pass from Jason Leslie.

With 16 minutes remaining, sophomore Bryan Oliveros converted off Max Rockwell's corner kick to make it 2-0.

Just 30 seconds later, Vasquez completed the scoring.

East Bay (10-6-2) couldn't sustain a consistent attack on a chilly evening and failed to apply pressure against the more aggressive Mustangs.

"We needed someone to break the ice," said Mitchell coach Oscar Ubillus, "and David Vasquez decided to get it done."

Ira Kaufman

Bucs Overcome Bug, Mooney

TAMPA - The flu bug swept through Berkeley Prep High this week and knocked out much of the Bucs starting defense, but it didn't matter.

The offense came through with two goals in the first two minutes on the way to a 9-1 rout over Sarasota Cardinal Mooney in the Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinals.

The Bucs (24-2-2) barely needed a defense since they controlled the ball throughout, pressuring the Cardinal Mooney (7-8-2) defense throughout. T.J. Roehn scored three goals and added an assist for the Bucs while Eri Jacobs and Julian Crockett added two apiece.

Coach Tim Cooper, whose Bucs lost in the regional final last season, said that it was important to come out to a quick start."Without some of our starters we had to take it to the next level," Cooper said. "We had to score first to take pressure off the defense and that was the story."

Jeff Berlinicke

Crusaders Fall In Shootout

FORT MYERS - Tampa Catholic held an early advantage in a shootout, but saves by Fort Myers Bishop Verot goalkeeper Lucas Polk on Andrew Buckley and Ben Taylor gave the Vikings a 4-3 shootout win after the two teams had played to a 0-0 tie in the Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinals.

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Crusaders quickly grabbed a commanding lead in the tiebreaker, sandwiching goals by junior Brendan McCarron and senior Robby Sherman around a Vikings' miss.

Sophomore Andrew Palumbo scored to cut Bishop Verot's deficit to 2-1, and Polk then saved from Buckley, diving to his right to deflect the shot wide.

After junior Brendan Abernethy scored for the Vikings, Polk came up big again, this time snaring a shot by Taylor to swing the advantage to Bishop Verot.

With the teams tied at 3, Mason Weisberg stepped to the line with the game in his control. Weisberg went low and to the right, drilling the shot and vaulting the Vikings into the semifinals.

Fort Myers News-Press

Tampa Prep Eases To Win

TAMPA - Two of Tampa Prep's best players - Wes Sever and Alex Tuch - were suffering with the flu and never played in Thursday night's Class 2A regional quarterfinal.

It didn't matter.

In the near-freezing night, Tampa Prep dominated visiting Academy at the Lakes in every way, running off with a 3-0 victory that could have been a lot more lopsided if not for a few great Lakes' defensive saves.

"On a cold night like tonight temperature at Tampa Prep dipped to 39, you can get a little concerned," Tampa Prep coach Doug Smith said. "Plus we had a few starters out and we really didn't know anything about Academy at the Lakes.

"So, you know, we're happy to get out with a victory on a night like tonight. Very glad."

Tampa Prep (11-4-3) got the scoring started in the 31st minute when Anthony Baumann sent a pinpoint pass to Travis Simmons, who, basically one-on-one with the keeper, chipped the ball in the net.

Six minutes later, Alex Cardoso scored after breaking free from a scrum in front of the net. Then midway through the second half, Tampa Prep iced it when Twain Glaser scored on a pass from Cardoso.

Scott Purks

Hurricanes Get Past Lancers

SPRING HILL - With the temperature in the mid-30's at game time, Bishop McLaughlin coach John Mayer stressed to his team to get loose and warmed up early. His Hurricanes apparently listened, with a goal in the first two minutes of play.

Midfielder Matt Gulau got the early goal to give the Hurricanes the lead, and they added to their lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half when Hurricane Vinson Cau was brought down in the Lancers' penalty area. Midfielder Daniel Ramirez successfully converted the penalty kick past the diving Mitch Carr.

Less than three minutes later, Ramirez scored again, knocking in a rebound off a Matt Gulau free kick.

Cambridge Christian regrouped at halftime and pulled a goal back midway through the second half through forward Matt Kazanski, but the Lancers were unable to get any closer.

Cliff Gill

Shorecrest Gets Late Goals

ST. PETERSBURG - Shorecrest needed two goals in the last 10 minutes to edge past Out of Door Academy 3-1 in the Class 2A-Region 3 quarterfinal.

Shorecrest's Toms Bernhards-Callahan managed to score early in the slow first half. "They were playing like it was cold outside," Shorecrest coach Jeff Diedrich added.

The game did not pick up until Out of Door Academy's Brad Geisen tied the game early in the second half.

Jake Cotts gave Shorecrest the lead with a goal with 10 minutes to go in the second half. Stephen Spanos cemented the win by scoring his 48th goal of the year off a penalty kick with two minutes left. The Chargers will face Bradenton St. Stephen's in Tuesday's regional semifinal.

"A win is a win", Diedrich said. "We need to play better if we want to beat St. Stephens."

Luke McEachron

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