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Boys soccer: Land O' Lakes downs Gulf, 7-3

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By MIKE CAMUNAS

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 9, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - When Land O' Lakes boys soccer coach Mark Pearson showed his players the scoreboard during halftime of Monday's game against Gulf, he didn't like the score, despite his team being up 3-2.

"I think we came into this game thinking this would be an easy win and thought we'd have no problem," Pearson said. "We have to cut that out of our game. We spotted them two goals in the first 10 minutes, and at halftime, I told them they needed to turn things around."

The Gators (1-0) went on to win 7-3 after quickly scoring three goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half.

"They sat back and we were able to keep pressing on them," Pearson said.

Gulf (0-1) got two quick goals from junior Tyler Best, and the midfielder added a late third goal on a penalty kick for the hat trick. Land O' Lakes picked up its first goal from senior Frank Villar, then tied the game when a Buccaneer defender tried to clear the ball, but ended up scoring an own goal.

Andrew Garcia was credited with goal, while sophomore Jake Frahm gave them the one-goal lead.
Gulf, which fields a young team, including two first-year varsity defenders, struggled to find offense in the second, which Coach Steve Emerson chalks up to inexperience of his players.

"They're still young and they're still learning to play on this level," Emerson said. "We still need to fine tune some things, but I think we'll be good in district. We'll see where we stand come early February."

Villar added his second goal just 46 seconds into the second half, while Garcia picked up his four minutes later. Villar scored his hat trick on a quick shot off header, and Frahm added his second at 28:50.

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