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Durant Wins 1-0 To Continue Run

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Mitchell's Jason Leslie watches Durant's Micah Garcia heads the ball.

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A Tribune staff report

Published: February 11, 2009

PLANT CITY - In a game crying out for a moment of brilliance, Durant's Freeman Bass and Billy Fanning provided one.

With the Cougars' Class 6A-Region 2 semifinal scoreless with 10 minutes to play, Bass broke from defense, beat a midfielder and advanced 40 yards into the Mitchell half. Fanning peeled away from his defender, and as the defenders closed in on him, Bass played it to Fanning on the left. Fanning's low, left-footed shot beat Mitchell goalkeeper Robbie Wallace just inside the right post, giving the Cougars a 1-0 victory.

"I intercepted a pass through the middle, and I looked up and there was no one around," Bass said, "I saw a guy coming, so I cut past him, went about 40 more yards and two guys converged on me, so I flicked it outside."

Fanning's goal sent the Durant crowd into a frenzy, and the Cougars (25-2) into Friday's region final at home against Melbourne.

Mitchell (15-13) came closest to scoring late in the first half, when Micah Garcia curled a shot from the left toward the right corner. But Bass bailed out his brother Connor, Durant's goalkeeper, with a volleyed clearance off the line.

After Fanning's goal, Mitchell pushed forward in the closing stages, coming close to an equalizer on a header by Robbie Waggoner that was easily handled by Connor Bass.

But the Cougars advanced, equaling the deepest trip into the postseason in school history.

Nicholas J.E. Murray

5A-3: Freedom Ousts Land O' Lakes, 6-2

TAMPA - When Freedom defeated Land O' Lakes in last year's Class 5A-Region 2 quarterfinals, it earned the Patriots' Taylor Nalls bragging rights on his Central Pasco Spartans club team.

On Tuesday, Nalls made sure those rights continued as he scored a hat trick to lead Freedom one step closer to a state final four appearance as the Patriots eliminated Land O' Lakes, 6-2.

The Patriots (15-2-5) will host Winter Park Lake Howell (13-3-2) in the region finals Friday. In Freedom's only other region final appearance (2005), the Patriots lost to Auburndale, 5-1.

Nalls' first goal came after the Patriots moved the ball downfield with ease. Manny Martes put the final pass directly on Nalls' foot, and he fired it past Gators goalkeeper Alex Spock.

Nalls scored his second goal on a rebound of his own shot in the 36th minute and got the hat trick in the 53rd minute. Evan Kruk made it 4-0 with a goal in the 59th minute.

Land O' Lakes (22-3-2) finally got on the board in the 65th minute on a penalty shot by Dominic Cutrofello, but the Patriots regained their four-goal lead in the 75th when Deion Jones put in the rebound of his penalty shot.

Felix Soto cut the lead to 5-2 in the 78th minute when he took a punt from Spock on two bounces and sent it past Kyle Peel. Martes scored the final goal a minute later.

Rick Harmon

5A-3: Palm Harbor Sneaks Past Jesuit

TAMPA - In the 45th minute, a ball was thrown into a scrum and ended up ricocheting, ever-so-slightly, off the head of Matthew Tobin and into the back of the net.

That was the difference between Palm Harbor defeating Jesuit 1-0 in Friday's Class 5A region semifinal.

The other differences were slim as well: A ball nicking off the hands of diving Palm Harbor keeper Max Gallin in the 20th minute; another glancing off the crossbar for Palm Harbor; another shooting just high for Jesuit; another ...

"There were so many things that were so close," Jesuit coach Bob Bauman said. "Sometimes it seemed like we were just a little bit slow, a little out of sync. It wasn't for a lack of effort, but it just wasn't quite there."

In the first half, Palm Harbor coach Alex Delgado said Jesuit (24-2-1) "dominated play," so he challenged the team at halftime.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 4-1, a shot that included the winning goal.

The loss marks the first time in four years the Tigers will not go to the state final four. Palm Harbor, which won state titles in 2002 and 2006 and were runners-up in 2007, will play Seminole on Friday.

Scott Purks

5A-3: Seminole Tops Lakewood Ranch

BRADENTON - Leading Bradenton Lakewood Ranch by two goals in the first half, Seminole should have been feeling great. But veteran coach Rick Masi knew better.

"I always tell the boys a two-goal lead is the worst lead you can have in soccer," Masi said. "You kind of let up, and they get one and then the momentum switches to the other side."

True to Masi's words, Lakewood Ranch, which had only one shot on goal in the first half, scored in the 70th minute and the Warhawks nearly lost their lead before hanging on to a 2-1 victory in the Class 5A-Region 3 semifinals.

The Warhawks struck early, as a throw-in during the fifth minute resulted in the first goal. Shane Wixted received the throw and delivered a ball just outside the 6-yard box to Maurice Lelii, who drove the ball into the back of the net.

Seminole (18-8-3) drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box in the 23rd minute, leading to its second goal. The Mustangs (16-4-4) headed out the free kick, but Casey Crawford slid a pass back into the box to Sean Rafferty, who ripped a left-footed shot inside the left post for a 2-0 lead.

Anthony Gagliano

4A-2: Combs Gets Winner For Hudson

HUDSON - It's not often that a player is doused with ice water following a big win. But in the case of Hudson's leading scorer, Scotty Combs, it seemed the least his teammates could do.

After suffering two injuries during the games, Combs limped into position in the 76th minute to fire the winning shot from about 20 yards, with the ball ricocheting in off the crossbar. The Cobras (19-5-3) beat Class 4A-District 7 champion Celebration 2-1 at Cobra Stadium to advance to the regional finals for the first time.

"It just so happened we had Scotty on our side," Cobras coach Paul Vescio said of Combs, who has 47 goals.

The goal came a minute after Celebration (15-3-2) tied it to negate a goal by Taylor Lamphier three minutes in.

Hudson advanced to the region final, where it will face two-time defending state champion Ponte Vedra Nease (23-2-1) on Friday at Cobra Stadium.

Bart O'Connell

2A-3: Tampa Prep Cruises To 4-0 Win

TAMPA - Despite four of Tampa Prep's starters sitting on the bench - including both goalkeepers - the host Terrapins had enough depth to knock off Bishop McLaughlin 4-0 in Tuesday night's Class 2A boys regional semifinal.

The defending state champion Terrapins (13-4-4) will travel to Bradenton on Friday to face longtime rival St. Stephen's in the region final. It's the fifth straight year the teams have faced off in either the region semifinal or final, with Tampa Prep winning each meeting.

First-year Terps coach Doug Smith declined to say why he benched the starters but said "everybody's got to play by team rules."

As a result, junior Brandon Weisz, a field player who has only played goalie in practice, found himself between the posts while several Terps regulars played out of position.

Weisz didn't have to sweat too often as the Terps finally broke through a scrappy Hurricanes defense and standout keeper Diego Pestano in the 28th minute.

Anthony Baumann threaded a through ball past two Hurricanes defenders to forward Twain Glaser, who crossed it to the far post. Pablo Calvino one-timed it into the goal from just outside the 6-yard box.

In the 65th minute, Glaser knocked in a shot from 15 yards out. Baumann scored from the top of the arc on a breakaway run six minutes later, and he and Wes Sever combined on a give-and-go to help Sever score his 11th goal.

Bill Ward

2A-3: Shorecrest Swept Aside, 5-1

BRADENTON - Shorecrest Prep's Stephen Spanos scored the opening goal of the game, but the Chargers were unable to withstand the quick attacks of Bradenton St. Stephen's as it moved into the Class 2A-Region 3 final with a 5-1 victory.

Riley Delgado scored a second-half hat trick for St. Stephen's (17-4-1) as the Falcons pulled away late.

Spanos scored midway through the first half, his 49th goal of the season, as the Chargers (16-5-3) stifled St. Stephen's.

Eventually, St. Stephen's found a way to unlock the Shorecrest defense, and Alex Walter converted a penalty kick in the 31st minute. Ariel Hughes gave St. Stephen's the lead three minutes before the break, scoring on a rebound after Shorecrest goalkeeper Chris Partenheimer parried the initial shot.

The pattern continued in the second half, and twice in the last 10 minutes Delgado's opportunism paid off with the Chargers caught watching after a save.

Nicholas J.E. Murray

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