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Palm Harbor University Rules State In Class 5A

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By JARRETT GUTHRIE

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 15, 2009

TAMPA - Palm Harbor University poured on its pressure in Saturday's Class 5A state championship after an early second-half goal by Lakeland Jenkins tied the match at one. Palm Harbor from there took back momentum and stifled the Eagles offense en route to a 3-1 win, earning the Hurricanes a fourth state title.

PHU forward Catherine Brinkman scored twice along with a deciding goal from Anja Decker as the Hurricanes (22-2) earned a second title in four years (2006, 2009).

The first 28 minutes saw possession in clear favor of PHU and was capped by a Brinkman goal for the first score. Brinkman ended up with a clear look at the goal after PHU midfielder Paige Lombard sent a shot toward the goal that was defended by Eagles goalie Caitlyn Currie.

The Hurricanes goal seemed to spark Jenkins (26-1-1) as the Eagles made crisper passes and ran better setups for the rest of the first half and to start the second. The shift for Jenkins resulted in an early second-half goal by Christine Knudstrup.

However, after the tying score by Jenkins, the Hurricanes answered and pressured for the remainder of the second half as PHU's defense played flawlessly.

"When we get one we want to make sure we keep the pressure on and not sit back and then when they equalize we want to make sure they didn't keep the momentum," PHU coach John Planamenta said. "The girls, though, stuck it out and got one more and then another, but I wasn't happy until there were about nine seconds left."

Hurricanes senior defender Ellycia Colon stopped Jenkins' leading scorer Kayla Bala. Colon had high praise for Bala. "To win as a senior, when you played your heart out and against one of the best forwards that probably I ever played against," Colon said. "It's just indescribable."

The Hurricanes broke the tie in the 68th minute on an open-net goal by Decker and added a little comfort for a two-goal advantage on a penalty kick in the box by Brinkman for her second goal of the match.

For Jenkins it marked the first loss for the team in 56 matches in the past two seasons, a streak Eagles coach Joe Lenard said shows how dedicated his team has been during the last two years. "I'm extremely proud of them," Lenard said. "I took over this team two years ago and last year we were undefeated state champions and this year we were undefeated in the regular season and state runners-up."

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